From Shadows to Light
by Takeshi Yamato
Summary: In the year 2411, the Iconians returned to reclaim the galaxy. Six ships fought them and they disappeared. Now, they are the last, best hope... for victory. The year is 2260. The place: Babylon 5.
1. Chapter 1

**Qo'noS Orbit**

* * *

The Heralds were holding Qo'noS in an iron grip, and the Alliance was going to break that grip by force. A large fleet of 60 ships were inbound, led by the three flagships of the Alliance: Lleiset, Bortasqu and Enterprise. They were NOT fucking around.

Of course, before most of the fleet could get there, a path needed to be cleared for the troop transports that would make their way past the transporter interdiction system to get boots on the ground. Hence, an advance force was sent in ahead of the main fleet to clear the main approach routes—The main Starbase and the Shipyard. Said advance force consisted of two ships each from Starfleet, the KDF, and the Romulan Republic Navy.

The command ships of the force were the R.R.W _D'Deridex_ (named for the prototype, and stolen from the Tal Shiar) and the _Odyssey_ -Class USS _Ra-Cailum_ , leading the assault. "All ships, prepare for combat," the _Ra-Cailum_ 's captain ordered. "We're the spearhead, and we're going to stab those motherfuckers until one of two things happens: either THEY die, or WE die taking all of them with us!"

" _Understood,_ " came the reply from one of the smaller ships, and one of the newer ones, too—the USS _Firestorm_ , one of the new _Mercury_ -Class High-Mobility Escorts to come out of the yards.

" _We will send them all to Gre'thor! Today is a good day to die!_ " yelled out the captain of the larger of the two KDF ships, a _Mogh_ -Class Battlecruiser.

"All hands, stand to battle stations!" The trailing lights on the bridge of the Ra-Cailum turned red. "Target the closest one of those assholes and give them the raping of their lives!"

As they closed in, the _Firestorm_ and the Romulan High-Mobility Warbird _Sienov s'Okhala_ struck first, unloading high volumes of Phaser cannon fire and Plasma cannon fire, respectively, on an Iconian Battleship near the Shipyard, their combined fire punching through the shields before a volley of Quantum and Hyperplasma Torpedoes tore into the hull. The two continued firing even as they flew past the ship, using thrust vectoring to keep their weapons aimed at the battleship even as they maintained their trajectory.

The mighty _Ra-Cailum_ leveled her phaser arrays on two of the Iconian warships, followed by the _D'Deridex_ 's disruptor banks spamming bolts and beams at the orbiting dreadnought. "Hell's too good for you, you bastards! This is for Virinat!"

The _Mogh_ -Class struck next, Disruptor Cannons and 'Morath's Fist' Quantum Torpedoes destroying one of the enemy Raider vessels before it could slip into one of its Gateways to launch a ramming attack on the larger ships.

This, unfortunately, caused a chain reaction in subspace, causing a massive tear. "Son of a bitch! All ships, get clear!"

They tried, but the tear was massive, and seemed to have the properties of a black hole in terms of gravitational pull. The _Firestorm_ had the most powerful engines, but its trajectory had taken it closest to the tear before it had started pulling, so it was pulled in rather quickly.

"Fucking wonderful: not only did we fail, we blew up the entire system! Gah, the Klinks are going to be pissed when they find out!"

One by one, the other ships in the group fell into the rift, unable to escape its pull. Several Iconian ships were pulled into the rift as well, before it seemed to snap closed.

When the rest of the fleet arrived, they would find that the path to Qo'noS, while not entirely cleared, was rather undermanned, meaning it was easier to clear the way and land their troops. Of the six ships they had sent ahead, however, there was no sign, not even debris.

"Where did they go?" Koren, Captain of the _Bortasqu'_ , asked. "They would have said something if they had just moved on!"

"Koren, we have bigger problems at the moment than six missing ships," replied Captain Va'kel Shon of the _Enterprise_. " _Lleiset_ , you'd better take up a cloaked CAP: keep an eye out for any more Herald forces." The _Enterprise_ began escorting the troop ships towards Qo'noS, not knowing the fate of their comrades.

* * *

 **USS** _ **Firestorm**_ **, Bridge**

 **Location Unknown**

* * *

"Ugh… did someone get the registry number of the cruiser that hit us?" a man with chocolate brown hair done in a buzz cut and amethyst eyes, wearing the Starship Captain's variant of the 'Odyssey' Duty Uniform with a Long Jacket as opposed to the regular jacket, asked as he picked himself up off the floor.

"NCC-94517-A," came the voice of a woman with slightly lighter-brown hair that fell to her shoulders and blue eyes, wearing a standard 'Odyssey' Duty Uniform with Science Blue trim. "The _Ra-Cailum_ nearly hit us there." The massive bulk of the _Oddy_ drifted past the _Mercury_ -Class ship, narrowly missing the _Firestorm_.

"Jeez, this is not our day," the man, Captain Takeshi Yamato, said as he got back into the seat he typically commanded from, the Helm Console. "Status report."

"Minor thermal damage to the hull; that's easy to fix," reported the Operations Officer, a Bajoran woman with close-cut reddish-brown hair and green eyes. "Navigational systems… Ok, what the hell?"

"What's wrong, Rina?" Takeshi asked.

"Says we're only a few lightyears from Vulcan. How the hell did we get from Qo'noS to Vulcan?"

"OK, that _is_ strange," Takeshi replied. "See if you can get in touch with the _Ra-Cailum_ , or any other ships from the task force. See if their readings corroborate ours. Kim, can you get us any other information?"

"I'll do what I can," Kim, the brunette woman, replied.

Rina hailed the Ra-Cailum, getting the ship on the horn. " _Ra-Cailum_ , this is _Firestorm_. Do you read?"

" _This is Lieutenant Corpsa H'lak, Tactical officer on the_ Ra-Cailum _. The Captain's indisposed at the moment: what can I do for you?_ "

"Our navigational systems are saying we've relocated from Qo'noS to near Vulcan," Takeshi replied. "Can you confirm?"

" _Hold it, I'm working on… it… Your sensors are off. Or… fuck._ "

"Ra-Cailum?"

" _Our navigational sensors are telling us that the stars are out of position._ "

"Confirmed," Kim reported. "Even for near Vulcan, the stars aren't quite where they're supposed to be. We'll need to make adjustments for Stellar Drift. And that's not the only problem."

Takeshi blinked. "What is it, Kim?"

"I've got enough readings to determine the quantum signature of the area around us is different than the quantum signature of our ships," she said, before adopting a very serious look on her face. "We're not just in a different timeframe… we're in a completely different universe."

" _Well, we're screwed then, aren't we? I'll inform the boss once he gets back from sickbay: he hit his head off of the ceiling when we got through._ "

"Not much of an injury," Rina remarked.

" _It is if the inertial dampeners fail and he went in at Mach 2.4, lady._ "

Takeshi winced. "Ouch," he said. "Hopefully he'll be alright."

" _I'll call back once he gets back._ Ra-Cailum _out._ "

The link cut, and Rina scoffed. "Cheery crew," she said.

"The Ra-Cailum takes the Enterprise's rejects, from what I've heard," Takeshi informed. "The best with issues that kept them from the Big E. It's expected." He then set up an intercom channel to Main Engineering. "Yamato to Engineering. Matt, what's the status down there?"

" _No internal damage, Capt'n,_ " his Chief Engineer replied. " _Just carbon scoring on the hull. Can't say the same for those Herald ships, though, because they're in pieces._ "

Takeshi looked out the viewscreen, and indeed, he could see pieces of various Herald ships floating around his ship, the _Ra-Cailum_ , and the other ships in the task force. "Understood," he replied. "Status of the Warp Core?"

" _Fully functional. We're go for return to ESD at any time._ "

"Doubt if it's that simple, if we're in another universe," Takeshi muttered quietly.

The comm beeped again. "Sir, it's the _Ra-Cailum_ ," Rina informed.

"Put them through," Takeshi replied.

"Firestorm _, this is_ Ra-Cailum _: we're picking up a tachyon-based transmission from Epsilon Eridani. Are you reading the same?_ "

Takeshi looked at Kim, who nodded. "Yeah, we are," Takeshi replied. "Think we should check it out?"

" _That's up to the boss-_ "

" _Who's saying yes._ Ra-Cailum _Actual to all ships: anyone dead over there?_ "

Takeshi checked the incoming status reports. "No casualties on our end," he reported. "And with a crew of only 45, that's a good thing."

" _No one's dead over here,_ " added the female CO of the _Sienov s'Okhala_.

" _We still live to earn glory for our houses!_ " the _Mogh_ 's Captain informed.

" _One hell of a headache for the Colonel, but otherwise, no fatalities,_ " replied the captain of the other KDF ship, a _Vor'cha_ -Class Attack Cruiser.

" _Alright, people, we've got work to do and never enough time in the day to do it. Helm, set course for Epsilion Eridani, maximum warp._ "

Takeshi did the same, and soon enough the six ships banked towards Epsilon Eridani and shot off into Warp, heading towards what would be a _very_ fateful encounter.

* * *

 **Epsilon Eridani system - orbit of the third planet**

* * *

Orbiting Epsilon III was an O'Niell-class space colony, 8 kilometers from end to end. the station was the last of its' breed, as none would be built after it. Babylon 5 was the last best hope for peace in a galaxy filled with violence. And its' goal was beginning to prove fruitless.

Floating several kilometers away from the station was a cruiser, belonging to a race known as the Centauri.

Hours earlier, Captain Sheridan had granted a Narn cruiser sanctuary in order to allow them to repair themselves so they could leave and continue the fight, but the local idiots from Nightwatch had informed Londo Mollari, the Centauri ambassador to B5, about the cruiser, shortly before a Primus-Class battlecruiser jumped into B5 space.

Now they were in a stand-off, the Cruiser demanding the Narn be turned over to them, and Sheridan refusing. However, the cruiser was charging its weapons to break the stand-off, and open fire on the station.

"Centauri battlecruiser charging weapons, locking on target."

"Is it targeting the Narn ship?"

"It's targeting the Narn cruiser, Zeta Squadron… and us."

Sheridan resisted chuckling. He just pissed off the Centuari Republic just by doing the right thing. "Return the favor: target their ship."

Pinging was heard throughout C&C. Susan Ivanova glanced at Sheridan. "They're trying to provoke us into making the first move."

"I don't think so."

"Got an energy spike!"

Sharidan said it best with two words. "Oh, hell."

The battlecruiser opened fire, shots ranging towards the station, the Narn ship, and the Starfuries escorting it. The shots at the station impacted, breaking one of the spires on the 'bow' of the station.

Before Sheridan could order return fire, however, something happened which changed everything…

A red-orange beam of light cut between the two combatants. " _This is Captain Ronald Pinkerton, commanding the Federation starship_ Ra-Cailum _. Cease hostile actions immediately or you WILL be fired on._ "

The main screen on the command center changed its view to show the ship that had fired that beam, revealing a rather… sleek-looking ship over a kilometer long, a wide ellipsoid saucer connected to a ovoid secondary hull by a pair of short pylons, longer, swept pylons in the rear connecting the secondary hull to a pair of long nacelles. As they watched, five more ships flashed into existence around it.

One of the others appeared to be a boxy ship, like a curved box with wings and two prongs in front, similar in build to the massive ship IDed as the Ra-Cailum.

On of the others was more rough, looking more like a ship bred for war, with reinforced sections on the hull with two downward nacelles, and a head section that had a cutout, making room for some form of weapon. Another ship looked very similar, if smaller.

But the second big one took the cake: a bird-like head connected to two hulls, which were supported by nothing but two nacelles. It looked like a massive bird.

The last ship had a bird-like appearance, as well, but was much smaller, a narrow hull which had two 'wings' extending from the sides, sloping up shortly from where they left the main body before sweeping down again and forward, ending not in nacelles like the rest, but in two… what looked like very big cannons.

The Centauri ship seemed to pause for a moment, before it began turning, bringing its guns to bear on what its crew believed were interlopers.

" _Seriously, if you don't stand down in the next ten seconds-_ " Pulse cannon fire shot from the _Primus_ , impacting… were those energy shields? " _Ok, seems you don't want to listen to reason. Good thing I speak violence, and I have two Klink ships that want to kill something._ "

As if that were a cue, the two warlike ships fired, green bolts of energy flying across space to slam into the Centauri cruiser.

The Primus was cored by the first shot, sent into a Dutch Roll before the bolts connected with the reactor and destroyed the Centauri warship, just as the G'tok entered the jump gate with Zeta Squadron in tow. "Londo is not going to be happy," Sheridan remarked.

Ivanova's response was… well, typical Ivanova. "If Ambassador Mollari isn't happy, the rest of the universe is. Besides, the Centauri needed a kick in the ass."

Sheridan couldn't argue with that, even as he looked over the strange newcomers. Somehow, he felt like they would bring great change to the galaxy… change that, if he was honest, it desperately needed.

"Sir, Mr. Lantz wants to speak with you as soon as possible. I think he's-"

"I know EXACTLY what he feels right now. And to be really honest, I don't care. Get those ships on the horn: I want to talk to them."

* * *

 **USS** _ **Firestorm**_ **, Bridge**

* * *

"Well, that could have gone better," Kim remarked.

"The assholes deserved it, firing on a station with so many civilians like that," Takeshi replied, remembering the results of their initial scans. "Besides, Klingons will be Klingons, and you know they were wanting to kill something."

"Agreed," informed the ship's first officer, one of a few Xindi-Reptilians to join Starfleet in the wake of the Undine assault on Earth and Qo'noS several months back, who was seated in what was normally the Captain's Chair. "Not that I disagree with them in this instance."

At the Tactical Station, a redheaded woman with blue eyes nodded. "We'll need to learn the full situation, but I get the feeling we did the right thing there," she said.

The station had taken a hit, but that would be easy to repair. "Sir, we're being hailed by the station," Rina reported. "It's identifying itself as… Babylon 5."

That meant the station was in a series. But O'Neill-Class colonies were easy to build: the Lya-Class was more or less an Island-3 with a few addons.

"Well, let's find out who we're dealing with," Takeshi remarked. "Put them through."

" _This is Captain John Sheridan, commanding the Earth Alliance station_ Babylon 5," came the voice of what was likely the commander of the station. "Thanks for the help."

"Captain Takeshi Yamato of the Federation Starship _Firestorm_ ," Takeshi replied. "Glad we could help. I don't know what's going on, but that ship likely deserved what it got."

"They wanted to get what was more or less a defenseless ship and destroy it without any concern for the crew. The Centauri have gotten more and more violent over the last year; I just hope what you've done makes them back off. I'd also like to talk to you in person. Can you send a shuttle over?"

"We should be able to," Takeshi replied. "I get the feeling we have a lot to discuss, though Captain Pinkerton of the _Ra-Cailum_ is the one in charge of our little group—He'll probably do most of the talking."

" _Pinkerton?_ "

" _Yours truly, Sheridan. Ronald Pinkerton, Captain, USS_ Ra-Cailum _and reigning champion of the Asshole Games._ " Rude and blunt as always. While he was smarter than most humans (he WAS an ex-drone) he didn't act like most former Borg like Annika Hansen, and it showed in his crew, as well. " _We'll be there in 10 minutes, Sheridan._ "

Takeshi ignored the rest of the conversation. "Linda, assemble an honor guard detail and have them meet us at the _Cyclone_ ," he ordered. "Tholra, you have the Bridge."

"Yes, sir," replied the redhead and the Xindi, respectively, as Takeshi and Linda left the Bridge.

* * *

One shuttlecraft each left their respective craft: a _Toron_ -Class shuttle each from the Klingons, a Commander's Gig from the _d'Deridex_ and a _Tiercel_ shuttle from the _Sienov s'Okhala_ while the Type-10 _Cyclone_ left the _Firestorm_ 's bay. The oddest shuttle, however, belonged to the _Ra-Cailum_. Two thin, boxy nacelles, large curved hull and older-style markings identified the shuttle as a Class-1, also known (inaccurately) as the Class-F refit.

The three shuttles flew in, following the guide beacon from B5 into a rather spacious hangar bay.

"Babylon _Control to all craft: you are clear to land in Bay 6._ "

"Roger, _Babylon_ Control. En route now."

"You don't even know where bay 6 _IS_ , Ron."

The commander of the most powerful ship in the ad hoc fleet (NO ONE was denying that, surprisingly) glared at his chief engineer. "Sonja, shut up."

The shuttles maneuvered their way through the hangar, eventually finding a smaller side bay marked with a large 6, and entered as the doors opened.

"And you said I don't know my way around." The Mars-born Hispanic woman huffed as the shuttle put down, followed by the others.

* * *

"These guys are human, Capt'n," the station security chief remarked.

"What makes you say that, Mr. Garibaldi?" Sheridan asked.

"Their names, for one," Michael Garibaldi replied. "Yamato's Japanese, Pinkerton's Irish."

The B5 Command Staff were all in the main conference room, waiting for the security detachment to escort their new guests up to them. The guard detail wasn't so much to keep them from doing anything to the station, but to keep any of the station's… shadier denizens from doing anything to _them_.

"Those ships aren't like anything Earth's ever built. Even the Agamemnon would take more than five minutes to take on a Centauri warship." Sheridan, of course, spoke of his old command, the fifth _Omega_ -Class destroyer EAS _Agamemnon_. The _Omegas_ were NASTY warships, and powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with the Minbari's _Sharlin_ war cruisers.

"Point taken, Capt'n," Garibaldi replied, "but that still doesn't change the fact that the names, at least, are human. Either a rogue colony, or something entirely different. I still think they're human."

"And you'd be right." Two people, a man and woman, walked into the room. The woman wore a black and gray uniform with a red turtleneck while the man's was more… colorful, with a black and red pattern. Both, however, wore rank insignia on their collars: two solid gold and one black pip for her, four gold for him.

Following them were two more people, another man and woman, both wearing similar uniforms: primarily black, with a belt with a silvery buckle, with a strip of red fabric just above armpit level, surrounded by dark red metallic material, the stripe separating the black underneath it from the shoulder yoke, which was dark gray for the woman and pure white for the man, both over a red turtleneck. Their rank insignia were more rectangular bars—three gold for the woman, four gold for the man. And the man's jacket appeared to be more of a long coat, extending down past the belt about a foot, with additional strips of red around the cuffs. The man was also wearing an honest-to-goodness Japanese Katana on his waist.

"Our Klingon and Romulan friends were delayed," the first man said. "The Klinks started a fight with the security retards with the black armbands and the Romulans tried defusing it, but it devolved into a brawl. Would've joined in, but I have an unfair advantage."

"What, you superhuman or somethin'?" Garibaldi asked.

"Reinforced skeleton, enhanced strength, shit like that."

"Regardless, our sincerest apologies," the other man replied. "The Klingons… well, they're pretty much a warrior race. Doesn't take much to get them in a fight."

"My boys can take it," Garibaldi remarked. "Besides, those idiots that joined Nightwatch need a boot up the ass or two."

"So the armband guys are yours?" the woman in similar uniform to the second man asked.

"Sort of. They technically answer to me, but they answer to some ass named Wells, too. Most of my people aren't with Nightwatch. I sure as hell ain't supportive of it."

The second man's eyes narrowed slightly. "I see," he remarked. "Do you want them… dealt with?" His hand dipped down to the hilt of his Katana as he said this, making the bent of his question all too clear.

"No," Shepard vehemently informed. "No one dies. I think introductions are in order."

"Ronald Pinkerton, Sonja Henderson, Takeshi Yamato and his wife, Linda," Ron informed.

"A pleasure to meet you all," Takeshi said, taking his hand away from his Katana and bowing in the Japanese fashion.

Sheridan waved a hand in order of his staff. "Commander Susan Ivanova, Chief Michael Garibaldi, and Doctor Steven Franklin. We're grateful for your help, but… where the hell did you come from?"

"A _long_ way away," Takeshi remarked, a brief 'understatement' being muttered under his breath.

"We're from an alternate universe," Ron stated. All three of the others looked at Ron, seemingly disbelieving that he would just… say it. "What? You were going to sugarcoat it and try to avoid it. Quidem primum officium est veritas."

Takeshi just sighed. "Your call, Ron," he said.

"…What?"

"Trust me, Mr. Garibaldi, this shit happens all the time. We deal with alternate universes every few months. As well as incidents involving time travel, extra-dimensional beings-"

"And most recently an ancient empire coming back to try and conquer our galaxy again," Takeshi finished up. "We were fighting a cluster of them near the Klingons' homeworld when something ripped open a hole in spacetime and… well… here we are."

Only Garibaldi could speak. And his words were a commonly uttered phrase of disbelief. "What. The. Fuck."

Footsteps were heard coming toward the conference room, and in came Zack Allen, Garibaldi's XO (and Nightwatch member, only he was using it just for the money, not to be an ass like the others), Frederick Lantz, and that bastard Welles. "Captain Sheridan, I demand to-"

"You can demand all you like, you old fart, but you won't get anything." Lantz froze before looking at Ron, who looked smug as a bug.

"Who're they?" Takeshi asked, jerking his thumb at the newcomers.

"WE, sir, are members of the Ministry of Peace, and we want to know who is responsible for this outrage involving the Centauri warship!"

"Oh, that'd be us. Ron Pinkerton, pleased to kick your ass."

"And honestly, it was their fault," Takeshi remarked. "Ron fired a warning shot then told them to stand down. Their fault that they didn't listen."

"That—That—"

"Oh, kiss my fat ass. Attacking a station packed to the brim with civilians is unacceptable. Anyone with a brain knows that. Clearly you don't, though. Makes me wonder… do you have brains? Let's find out, shall we?" Ron's face adopted what was called the Gowron look: widened eyes that nearly popped out of their sockets, a sickening grin, so on and so forth.

Allen, Lantz, and Welles all had their eyes bug out comically before they ran from the room, screaming bloody murder like the hounds of hell were after them—which they likely were, and running from the same thing.

"WE WILL ALL BE MADE ONE!" Ron yelled after them. "MAKE! US! WHOOLLEEE!"

The command staff backed away in their chairs, as well as Takeshi and Linda. Sonja, however, seemed to be used to it.

"O… kay…" Takeshi remarked carefully. "That was… different…"

"He likes doing that to people," Sonja remarked. "Helps that he used to be a Borg drone: increases the creepiness of the yelling."

Ron reentered the room, smiling like a loon. "Never. Gets. Old. So, now that the stupid's gone, shall we get back to it?"

"Right," Takeshi replied. "Though if the Klingons run into those three and end up gutting them, I doubt anyone will mind."

"I would. Zack's a good guy in a bad crowd. Hope that scares him straight."

"Straight into a plasma storm. So…" Ron plopped back into his seat like nothing happened. "What's been happening the past while? What's the place about?"

The command staff then began taking turns explaining the local region of space to the newcomers, as well as the purpose of Babylon 5's existence.

Once they were done, Takeshi said, "So, in summary, we've got a biotech race that's older than dirt, a race that went to war with Earth over a misunderstanding, a race whose empire is in decline and their former slaves, who have recently been subjugated again, and this station is essentially the last and best hope to maintain the current fragile peace. Am I missing anything?"

"Not… much," Sheridan replied

"You're hiding something, Sheri-boy. I don't like people hiding shit from me."

Sheridan's face paled at that. "Oh, god, not another one."

"Another one what?" Takeshi asked. "Someone other than Ron likes to use nicknames?"

"I knew someone in flight school who called me that. He acts almost the same way as she does!" Garibaldi was the only one to see the evil grin on Ron's face. It put all evil grins to shame, as it… was beyond description.

Takeshi blinked. That sounded interesting, and also… semi-familiar. "Umm… if I may venture a guess… is her last name Pinkerton, as well?"

"Yes. And she will NEVER be mentioned again, so help me god." Sheridan was terrified of her. NOT a good sign.

Takeshi, meanwhile, gave a tired sigh. "Looks like you might soon experience the same thing I did a few months ago, Ron, only yours won't be evil," he said. At the looks from the B5 Command Staff, he explained, "We said we dealt with alternate universes every few months. The one we deal with the most is called the 'Mirror Universe'—where instead of the peaceful and democratic United Federation of Planets, there was a conquering Terran Empire, which ruled over all it surveyed with a Neutronium Fist. It fell in the late 23rd century to an alliance of the Klingons and Cardassians in that universe, then in the 2370's the Terrans started making a comeback. Recently, they've retaken their homeworld and formed the Terran Dominion—and if anything, they're even worse than the old Empire. Everyone in our universe has a counterpart over there—and mine isn't just female, she's a manipulative, scheming wench who took advantage of an opportunity I inadvertently created in order to seize the throne for herself."

"Sounds like my aunt during a barbeque," Garibaldi remarked. And THAT was not something Takeshi wanted to think about.

"So, need any help keepin' the peace?" Ron asked. "God knows the shit's going to hit the fan, and I don't think we're getting home any time soon."

"And because of that, we're likely going to need a bit of help ourselves," Takeshi added. "Nothing much, really—star charts to help navigate the galaxy, maybe an out-of-the-way system we can use to set up a repair yard or something similar…"

"I'll… ask around," Sheridan informed. The unsaid 'to get HIM the hell away from me' was still loud and clear. "I have to go deal with Ambassador Mollari. Susan, can you ask ambassador Delenn if she can provide a list of worlds that aren't interesting to the Minbari for them?"

Ivanova nodded. "Yes, I can take care of that, Captain," she said.

Takeshi nodded. "Thank you very much," he said. "And we'd better find our Klingon and Romulan compatriots, make sure they haven't gotten in too much trouble."

* * *

They were currently in the brig: the Nightwatch people weren't happy with them, and had actually shot the group before dragging them into isolation. The Klinks were singing, driving them insane.

Zak'Jul, son of Joragh, Warrior of the House of Martok, was singing the loudest, as he sung a song of Kahless' defeat of the evil Molor in the distant past:

 _And the blood was ankle deep…_  
 _And the river Skral ran crimson red_  
 _On the day above all days_  
 _When Kahless slew evil Molor dead!_

The BabSec boys and girls were going insane because of the singing. "God, shut them up!"

"It took a full cap to put them down!"

Guinlong, son of U'dak, sung along side.

It had been a glorious fight in Zak'Jul's eyes, though the guards shooting them with what were likely stun rounds and locking them up before they could regain consciousness was an act of cowardice.

The Romulans were not pleased. "You HAD to start a fight. The last thing we needed was to start an incident."

"Those fools insulted us, Romulan, and they needed to learn never to insult a Klingon warrior!"

The female Romulan of the group, Veleen Takor, sighed as she was reminded of just why she'd lent her aid to the Federation when the Republic had first formed an agreement with the other two powers. She wished the Starfleet personnel would come for them soon—she didn't want to be locked up any longer than she had to.

"Who the hell are you?!"

"WE WILL ALL BE MADE ONE!"

"What the he—"

"MAKE! US! WHOLE!"

Screaming was heard as the security personnel ran off before the door opened, revealing the face of the only man that could scare the Klingons. "Hoi."

"Pinkerton!" Zak'Jul exclaimed, almost immediately snapping to attention.

"Relax. I'm getting you out with Sheridan's blessing. Helps that I scare the fuck out of people. Get back to your shuttles before the idiots try boarding them."

"Qapla'!" Zak'Jul replied, before heading back to his shuttle, Quinlong following.

Saren, a member of the Romulan Republic Militia Marines, shook his head. "You scare the shit out of me."

"It's what I do."

Veleen sighed as she stood, before making her way back to her shuttle - though she honestly preferred her personal _Scorpion_ Fighter, which she still had in the shuttlebay of the _Sienov s'Okhala_. She wasn't really a diplomat—what she was was a very good pilot.

Both the Marine and the pilot were from Virinat, and they had fought on the same ship prior to joining the Republic, although they were often assigned to the same missions after getting their own ships. Both of them had taken on and killed Hakeev, although Saren kept stabbing the body afterwards.

Veleen had also gone more… covert. While no one, not even Saren, knew it, she had joined the Starfleet Technical Intelligence Group, or STIG, or, as most people called them, Section 31, to help ensure the safety of her people. She'd lost her family to illness, and her home to the Tal Shiar. She would die before she lost anything else.

"We'll be heading out in a few hours. I've done some scans of their jump gate: our main deflectors should be able to open a rift in to this hyperspace of theirs. I want one of you to leave behind a craft under cloak. We need intel, and this station is a hotbed for events."

Veleen nodded. "I have a pair of Scorpion Fighters in my ship's hangar," she said. "They're small, meaning they can fit with our shuttle, and they also have fully functional cloaks. We can use one of them."

"Then deploy them as we return to our ships. They can't know we have actual cloaking technolo… gy…" Ron froze as they ran into someone else: a man wearing a suit with slick black hair.

"You're the captain of the _Ra-Cailum_?"

Something about the man set Veleen on edge, and she discreetly palmed a combat knife she always kept on her person, ready to use it if need be.

"I am. Who are you?"

"Oh, just a friend. You can call me Morden. Just want to know the answer to a question."

"That being?"

Morden smiled, putting them all in the mood to murder. "What do you want?"

"Nothing you could provide, Mr. Morden," Veleen replied icily.

"I still think I can provide whatever it is you like."

"Can you get me a drink? That's all I want at the moment."

Morden's eyes narrowed slightly, but he smiled all the same. "You have must have something more worthwhile that you desire."

"You know what I am finding myself wanting?" Veleen asked, as she finally showed her knife. "This, buried in your skull."

Morden stopped smiling. "I think I can provide that!" Ron said, as Morden quickly made his escape from the seemingly psychopathic Captain. "Aw, he didn't want to play! Sad panda!"

Veleen slipped her knife back into its sheathe as she watched Morden run. "Something about that man set me on edge," she informed the others.

"There was something around him. I could see it."

"You are not a seer, Pinkerton, despite your—"

"Not that. Something cloaked. Like a combination of Devidian phase shifting and Jem'Hadar shrouding that my eye was picking up."

Veleen frowned. "I thought none of the races here had cloaking technology," she said.

"Guess this must be something older than the other races. We'll find out eventually."

* * *

 **Earthdome**

* * *

Morgan William Clarke was, in a word, pissed.

Six ships had appeared near Babylon 5, defusing that situation with the Centauri without any chance of fallout landing on Sheridan. And the worst part? Two of those ships were clearly Human, but unlike anything he had seen from the Alliance.

Defensive shields, weapons whose power exceeded that of the Omega and even the mighty Warlock-Class destroyer's main armaments, just to name a few. Even his allies in Mr Morden's associates didn't have anything like that. But work would be done on trying to get their hands on those ships.

Of course, he was about to get a brand new headache…

The old Jaws theme played inside his mind, which should have served as a warning.

"Hello, El Presidente!"

He didn't heed it in time. ' _Oh sweet lord in heaven, WHY?!_ ' he thought. The intruder was the commander of the EAS _Achilles_ , second ship of the _Omega_ -Class. Colonel Riza Pinkerton, Starfury ace from the earth-Minbari war and the LAST thing he needed right now. "What is it you want, Pinkerton?!" he snapped.

"Uh, you called for me, sir."

' _Note to self: kill Bester,_ ' he thought, before saying aloud, "I didn't ask for you, Pinkerton. The last thing I WANT is to have you near me, you crazy bitch!"

"Mr. President, I'm almost offended. Everyone wants me!" She wasn't delusional. Just insane.

"Fine. You want an assignment? Go to League space and do… something. Just LEAVE."

He sighed in a bit of relief as she left. She was a particular brand of crazy that was unwanted for his plans. Perhaps Mr. Morden's associates could… _deal_ with her… an evil smile came to his face as the thought bounced around in his head, and he found himself liking it. A lot.

* * *

 **League of Non-Aligned Worlds territory/near the border of the Centauri Republic and Drazi Freehold**

* * *

 _Captain's Log, Stardate… Oh, I don't know. Local Calendar Date December 29th, 2259._

 _It's been a few days since we arrived in this new universe. We've managed to find an uninhabited system where we can set up a repair yard… and surprisingly, one of the moons in the system has rich deposits of Dilithium Ore—ultra-pure ore, too._

 _Ron and the_ Ra-Cailum _are dealing with the various tasks involved in setting up both the repair yard in orbit and a Dilithium Mine on the moon itself. Meanwhile, the KDF and Romulan ships have been running cloaked reconnaissance runs into other territories, while we've been patrolling our new 'home' system._

 _The situation around the galaxy is… less than stellar. The various minor races are having problem after problem, the Centauri are stepping up their efforts against the Narn, the Minbari are being isolationist, and Earth…_

 _Jeez, where do I begin with Earth? Suffice it to say that something really stinks in 'Earth Alliance' territory and leave it at that._

 _Babylon 5 seems to be the only place where things are going semi-smoothly: and it's the DS9 of the local universe, only it isn't next to a quadrant-bridging wormhole. The Earth Alliance Personnel there (at least the senior officers) seem to be okay people and in agreement with me that something is rotten in Denmark._

 _I just wonder how things are going back in our universe. Did we retake Qo'noS? Are we starting to turn the tide? Or are the Iconians still steamrolling us?_

 _*sigh* I just hope little Larcei's alright, and that Linda and I can see her again… or at the very least, that she grows up well enough without us to do the family legacy proud…_

* * *

Takeshi had to admit that the Ra-Cailum was a VERY overstocked ship. They had more supplies than they knew to know what to do with: so much so that they could build another freaking ship with them! "Anyone know what the hell the _Ra-Cailum_ 's supposed to be?" he asked. "Because I know for a fact that is NOT standard issue for an Oddy."

"According to the files, before the invasion they were tasked with Starbase Construction and Repair," Rina informed. "I'm thinking they never got around to removing the supplies needed for that."

Take remembered now. A news article was posted about the previous Ra-Cailum's captain getting reassigned after his promotion, and the ship's successor taking up the mantle of the SCE's new flagship after it was destroyed by the infamous flagship of the Romulan Imperial Navy, the IRW _Laehval_. Granted, the old Sovereign-Class ship beat the living hell out of the Scimitar-Class warbird, but it was little more then scrap, and was replaced with a new ship four weeks later, bearing the same registry, plus a suffix. It, along with the Enterprise, helped retake DS9 and the Ra-Cailum helped repair and upgrade the old station to prevent another 2800 Incident again.

That reminded Takeshi about the destruction of his previous ship, the USS _Raging Tempest_. The _Sao Paulo_ -Class Tactical Escort had served Takeshi and his crew well, but during the Undine Assault on Qo'noS earlier that year, she'd taken critical damage, forcing him and his crew to abandon ship and ram the thing into the Undine Planet Killer. He'd gotten the _Firestorm_ as a replacement—though he had to say he was somewhat thankful to whatever providential forces had given him the High-Maneuverability Escort, which responded to his skills better than the _Raging Tempest_ ever had.

The 'seventh' ship in the armada flew past the escort, smaller still than the _Mercury_ -Class ship: the _Aquarius_ -Class support ship _Sekhmet_. Takeshi noted that most of the craft attached to the _Ra-Cailum_ had a theme of names coming from mythology: mostly Earth's, but Vulcan and Andorian, and even Klingon were among the massive number of support ships.

He shook that off a bit as he returned his focus to his patrol. For some reason his Spatial Awareness was acting up.

It wasn't acting up in the way that told him there were enemies nearby (yet, at least). Instead, it was acting up in the other common way—the way it had acted up before he first met Ron, shortly before the Iconian Invasion.

Something important was going to happen soon… but he didn't know exactly _what_ …

"Captain, the _H'gak_ is picking up an EarthForce ship 20 lightyears away," Rina reported. "It's an _Omega_ -Class ship. It seems to be under attack."

Takeshi's curiosity was piqued by that. "Let's check it out," he said, adjusting the ship towards the position the _H'gak_ 's transmission had pinpointed. "I've seen the specs B5 provided on those things—someone has to be ballsy or possess force of numbers to try and take an _Omega_ on." Seconds later, the _Firestorm_ leapt into Warp.

* * *

It turned out to be both. A number of… well, they looked like death, a spider and your worst nightmare mixed together, blacker than night. And beating the shit out of the _Omega_ -Class ship.

Takeshi made a split-second decision. Those… ships were really pinging on his Spatial Awareness in the 'hostile' fashion, and if they were ganging up on an _Omega_ … well, it could only be a Bad Thing. "Red Alert!" he ordered as the Bridge Lighting turned red and the alarm klaxon began to sound. "We're taking those things out! Rina, let the rest of the fleet know!"

"Yessir!" Rina replied.

"Tholra, Linda, you know the drill: Queue up whatever firing patterns I ask for."

"Got it/Roger," Linda and Tholra replied simultaneously.

"Computer, activate Safety Harnesses!" Takeshi ordered, as roller-coaster-style safety harnesses on the bridge folded out from the chairs, securing everyone in place. " _ **IKU ZE!**_ "

The _Firestorm_ shot into battle, its Phaser Cannons shooting bolts of orange destruction at the first of the… things, while a Quantum Torpedo impacted another one.

The first was torn apart, the organic hull not strong enough to handle that much energy at once. The second was outright destroyed by 60 isotons of explosive power, getting the attention of the rest.

"Ok, I think we pissed them off!" Rina called out.

One fired a beam of thermonuclear energy at the _Mercury_ -Class ship, but got a plasma beam to the back for it from the Omega. The ship was STILL capable of fighting, even with the shit beaten out of her. " _Come on, motherfuckers!_ " came a female shout over the comms. " _You can't kill the_ Achilles _that easily! We don't have a heel for you to shove an arrow into! COME ON! BRING IT!_ "

"That Captain has guts," Takeshi remarked. "Definitely will be interesting to meet her after all is said and done."

The others nodded their agreement as Takeshi fired retrothrusters, backing up a short distance even as he flipped the trigger for the Firestorm's Microtorpedo Launcher, firing off a swarm of miniature Quantum Warheads like a certain line of transforming fighter craft from a completely different timeline, shredding another couple dozen of the unknown craft.

The craft focused their fire on the _Firestorm_ , impacting the shields, ignoring the _Achilles_. And making their fatal mistake as a far more powerful ship exited FTL and began beam spamming. " _Surprise, assholes! Here's_ Oddy _!_ "

Takeshi grinned. Despite Ron's crazy, he was a great asset on the battlefield. "Good to see you, Ron!" he called out. "Let's mop these things up!"

The enemy didn't get the idea. They attempted to counterattack, but the Odyssey-Class was still Starfleet's biggest and most powerful ship for a reason, even in spite of newer ships like the Eclipse and the recently retrofit Guardian-Class. the massive ship fired EVERYTHING, tearing into the enemy forces like a juggernaut.

One of the enemy ships _finally_ got the hint and started to run, but the _Firestorm_ appeared directly behind it in the flash of a micro-warp jump, shredding it with a volley of Phaser Cannon fire before turning and heading back into the main melee, as the enemy ships were dwindling rapidly.

The rest faded away, disappearing. Metaphasic sweeps didn't detect the ships, so they weren't using cloaking devices.

"OK, that was weird," Takeshi remarked. "Will need to show the combat footage to the B5 crew, see if they know anything." A brief pause. "Rina, open a channel to the _Achilles_."

"Channel op—" Rina began, but the voice from earlier interrupted.

" _FUCK YES!_ " it said. " _We win, assholes! This is Colonel Riza Pinkerton of the EAS_ Achilles _to whoever the hell you people are: thanks for the help, but we had that under control._ "

Takeshi blinked, before mentally sighing. Looked like they'd met FemRon. "Colonel Pinkerton, this is Captain Takeshi Yamato of the USS _Firestorm_ ," he said. "Good to hear, but we weren't going to let them gang up on you like that. Besides, something about those things seems… _wrong_ , somehow."

" _Meh, they attacked us, so I fought back,_ " she replied. " _Nice ship, though: wish we had them during the war._ "

"Well, the _Mercury_ 's a good ship—"

" _Not the tiny one. The BIG one._ "

And Takeshi got what Ron referred to as chain envy. He sighed. "Gotcha," he said after a moment. "How's your ship doing? We have a repair yard nearby if you need it."

" _We took a beating, and our IFF's out. Going to need more medical assistance than anything._ "

Takeshi nodded a bit. "We'll have the _Ra-Cailum_ send medical teams over," he said. "We'd be happy to guide or tow you to the repair yard, as well—it's not quite finished, but even incomplete, we can likely help you facilitate repairs."

" _Jump drives are screwed, too. Hope that station's close by._ "

" _A couple of lightyears. We'll tow you using our tractor beams._ "

" _And who the hell are you?_ "

" _Captain Ronald Pinkerton, USS_ Ra-Cailum _. Sounds like you've got chain envy towards the Tool Box._ "

Takeshi sighed a bit. Well, whatever happened, it was definitely going to be interesting to see the meeting between the two Pinkertons.

He idly wondered if he had a counterpart in this universe, too, and if they were more like him or his Mirror Counterpart, Hitomi Maxwell…

The larger ship closed towards the Omega-class destroyer and locked on a tractor beam, right before jumping to warp. "May we live in interesting times," Takeshi remarked.

"Isn't that a curse?" Rina asked.

"Maybe, but it's also a fairly apt description of our current situation," Takeshi replied. "We're a dimension away from home, in a galaxy teetering on the edge of war, and now we have these mystery enemies to deal with. I'd say that qualifies for 'interesting times'."

Both ships headed back for their temporary home, leaving the borderland behind.

* * *

' **Home' system**

* * *

The Regulus class starbase was complete enough for habitation, and personnel from all of the ships were busy learning of their temporary new universe. The news network ISN, based on earth, was one of their key sources of information. "When our ship encountered a distress beacon attached to an EarthForce recording device, these images, released exclusively to ISN, were found on that recording. Strategic analysts in EarthDome have indicated they don't know who this new race might be... but promised to find out."

"Geez, that thing is freaky…" A Starfleet Noncom remarked. He was wearing the standard Noncom uniform Starfleet had recently adopted: Primarily gray, with a division color stripe running up the side of the pants, and the shoulder yoke also being the appropriate division color—in the case of this Noncom, Tactical Red. "Like the Spider from Hell or something similar."

Two redcoats (security personnel from the _Ra-Cailum_ wearing the 2278-2353 uniform) just looked at the ship impassively. "We've seen nastier ships. The Vaadwaur, the Elachi, shit like that. These guys? Small fries compared to the big fuckers."

"It may be small," a Noncom in Science Blue remarked, "but you have to admit, it makes up for it with fear factor. I don't doubt we can handle it, but… I agree. That thing is freaky."

The purple beam made its' way to the recording fighter once more, destroying it and producing nothing but static. "What did the captains call that station?"

"The last, best hope for peace?" The Tellarite woman downed a mug of Warp Core Gin, made on Deck 58 on the _Ra-Cailum_ , near the antimatter storage pods. "It failed."

"Still, that isn't entirely a bad thing," a Klingon _Bekk_ from the _Vol'Tare_ remarked. "It means we have more chances for glorious battle!" he smiled as he considered the songs that might be sung if they ever made it back to their universe.

"For glory!" A Gorn rose a glass of antimatter-distilled alcohol from the Ra-Cailum, followed by many of the Klingon personnel that chose not to rejoin their ships.

"At least the Klinks are happy."

"Not ALL of them."

An Orion woman sat down beside the Starfleeters, wearing a rather conservative outfit. "I would prefer serving on one of the newer science ships the Empire's producing."

The Science Noncom blinked. "I didn't realize the KDF was making dedicated Science Ships," she said.

"They're based on gorn designs: basically the same thing. And those Dyson-type destroyers are mostly scientific in nature. The Klingons may prefer another sword, but they aren't stupid."

The Noncom nodded. "Gotcha," she said.

The Romulans were staying away from the rest of the group, even though there was only one mess hall. Clearly, the idea of sharing the same space with Klingons wasn't exactly ideal. "When the hell are those engineers going to adjust the filters? It smells like death in here!" Mostly because of the musk the Klingons put out.

"Hopefully in another day or two," an Engineering Noncom replied. "We're still dialing in a few things."

" _All hands, prep for arrival:_ Ra-Cailum _and_ Firestorm _are coming in with an EarthForce warship._ " From one of the massive windows, the two ships dropped out of warp, towing an Alliance _Omega_ -Class destroyer.

"Looks like the EarthForce ship took a beating," a Starfleet Tactical Noncom remarked. "I wonder what happened to them?"

"We'll find out later: get the medical teams ready and prep whatever repair crews we have to get that thing back in working order!"

"Aye, sir!" The groups began to rush out of the mess, getting to their duty stations.

Things were definitely going to be busy for them for a while…

* * *

 **Babylon 5 - January 4th, 2260**

* * *

Ivanova mused about the Babylon Project's intended role. 'The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace.' She remembered the Centauri warship that the Klingons destroyed only a week before. 'It failed. But in this coming war, it might represent something greater. Our last, best hope… for victory.' Her link beeped for a moment before she answered. "Ivanova."

"Commander, come down to my office," Sheridan ordered over the comms. "We need you down here for something."

"On my way," she said as she stood up, heading down to the briefing room.

Babylon 5 was massive, and still suffering from damage dealt by Centauri terrorists trying to kill Sheridan. Kosh stepped in to save the man's life, and had revealed himself as… something supernatural to the people on-station watching. She entered a lift, taking her to the commander's office. Waiting for her was Ambassador Delenn, her aide Lenner, the Captain, Garibaldi (as usual) and someone she didn't know. "Captain, you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, Commander," Sheridan replied. "I… this is going to be difficult. I haven't had a chance to fill you in on everything until now, and I apologize for that. But from what I've just heard, we don't have a lot of time. this is Marcus, he's—"

"A Ranger," she finished. "They've been trained to fight the Shadows and keep an eye on events outside of Babylon 5. The Rangers in this area are under the direct command of you, Ambassador Delenn, and Mr. Garibaldi is functioning as your liaison. Did I leave anything out?"

Sheridan gaped. "When did you—How did you—"

"Captain, the day something happens around here and I _don't_ know about it, worry."

Sheridan nodded, a little nonplussed. "Alright," he said.

"I came from a colony on the edge of Drazi space: Zagross 7," Marcus informed. "It's the site for one of the largest of our training grounds."

"I thought all the Rangers were being trained on Minbar?"

Lennier clarified it for Garibaldi. "Many of them are, yes, but there is a wisdom in, as you say, not putting all your eggs in one basket. Besides, our people are not entirely comfortable with the idea of the Rangers."

"With the cooperation of other governments, we've created additional training camps," Marcus explained. "Two weeks ago, we were surrounded by Centauri blockade mines. Any ship trying to leave the blockade is shot down." On a nearby monitor, an image of the blockade mines in question was shown. "It's a small colony with very little value, so our guess is that we're the target."

That piqued Ivanova's interest. "Why hasn't the Drazi government done anything about this?"

"The Centauri have captured much larger targets on the other side of their territory. They have no resources to protect a colony with few people and limited strategic value." While that was a good explanation from Delenn, it was still cold.

"We're boxed in on all sides," Marcus informed. "We need your help, now. Before anyone else is killed or the camp is invaded. All you have to do is break the blockade long enough for the other Rangers to escape."

Garibaldi poked MANY holes in that plan just by opening his mouth. "To lead an expedition into Drazi space and take out a planetary blockade you'd need a warship, major ordinance, a crew. We don't have those resources, AND we're already in hot water with the Centauri over the last firefight."

"We have the means if you have the will," Marcus replied. "There will be nothing left behind that can be linked to you. We have no one else to turn to."

"Captain, there's one more thing," Garibaldi continued. "We still have a VIP on board. You leave now, it's gonna raise 10 kinds of hell."

"When I agreed to share command of the Rangers with Delenn I became responsible for their well-being," Sheridan informed. "I'm not going to abandon them now. Michael, I'm leaving you in charge of Mr. Endawi. Tell him anything. Buy me as much time as you can."

"Will do," Garibaldi replied.

"We've spent too much time reacting when we should have been acting," Sheridan informed. "Let's take the offensive for a change. Fire up a shuttle, commander. We've got work to do."

* * *

A pair of craft left the station: an Alliance shuttle and a Minbari flyer. "I sent a fake destination to the station files. We can proceed to Zagros 7 anytime."

Sheridan had to hand it to Ivanova: she was good. "Shuttle 1 to Minbari flyer," he said over the comms. "Stay close. Initiating jumpgate sequence." The Jumpgate opened, and the two ships headed off to free the Rangers.

They didn't know that they were being watched by two Romulan fighters under cloak. And one was following them, sending transmissions back to the fleet.

* * *

' **Home' System, USS** _ **Firestorm**_

* * *

"Captain, we're getting a message from the two fighters the Romulans left at B5," Rina reported to Takeshi.

"That was fast," Takeshi remarked. "Things seem to be heating up rather quickly."

"Captain Sheridan and Commander Ivanova are following a Minbari ship to an unknown set of coordinates. Think we should help?"

"Yeah," Takeshi replied. "Maybe we'll find out some more about those things that attacked the _Achilles_."

Soon after they'd brought the _Omega_ -Class destroyer into their repair yard, they'd discovered through the news that the Earth Alliance had declared the ship missing, presumed lost. They could have informed EarthGov about the ship's survival, but Takeshi and Ron both felt that something fishy was afoot, as did Riza. So, she'd unofficially joined their fleet until such time as they found out what was going on.

"The _Ra-Cailum_ 's deploying the _Sekhmet_ ," Kim reported. "It seems the man wants to join us." In order of command, Ron was on top (he commanded a fucking Oddy) while Saren was in charge if the captain wasn't in the area. The Klingons weren't happy with that (distrust of Romulans) but they lived with it as they didn't want to deal with… well, crazy.

"Understood," Takeshi replied. "All hands, prepare to enter Hyperspace."

The _Mercury_ -Class ship pulsed its' deflector dish, opening a jump point into subspace, Takeshi idly noting that they could use this back home. Both ships entered hyperspace, the portal closing behind them.

* * *

 **Auxiliary craft** _ **Sekhmet**_

* * *

"This ship is AMAZING! It's got the firepower of an Omega at my fingertips!"

Ron chuckled as his relative (they looked alike, at least) sat at the helm, spinning in the chair. "The _Aquarius_ -Class was designed as a small multi-purpose support craft to the _Odyssey_ -Class," he explained. "It's more durable than a shuttle, but not as durable as other ships, but it makes up for that with a decent amount of firepower."

"This thing puts the _Heel_ to shame!"

"Take the wheel. Just don't get us lost."

"Oh, I know better than that."

The two ships continued through hyperspace, tracking the Scorpion that had followed Sheridan and Delenn.

"Closing in on coordinates."

"Prepare to exit hyperspace."

* * *

 **Minbari medium cruiser** _ **White Star**_

* * *

"The _White Star_ is a new breed of Minbari warship," Delenn explained. "Smaller than our other fleet ships, and faster than anything else her size. It uses both Minbari and Vorlon technology. Most important, unlike other vessels her size this one can make its own jump point into hyperspace."

Ivanova was impressed enough to comment. "Very nice. It looks different. It won't be recognized as a Minbari ship."

"Yes, exactly."

"I'll take two."

Before much more discussion could be made, another Jump Portal opened nearby, from which came… the _Firestorm_ and another, similar ship.

"How the hell did they find us here?" Shepard asked.

"Perhaps they have superior tracking technology as well as defensive systems and weapons," Lennier remarked.

"Firestorm _to unknown ship,_ " Takeshi's voice said over the comms. " _Picked you up leaving B5 clandestinely, Sheridan. Thought we might come along and see what was up._ "

Sheridan shook his head. "And the other ship?" he asked.

" _Surprise, motherfuckers!_ " came Ron's unwelcome voice. " _Guess who's back!_ "

" _And guess who's with him?!_ " came another, more unwelcome, and much more familiar voice.

Sheridan buried his head in his hands. "No… please, no… not both of them at once!" he groaned.

Evil laughter echoed through the comm, disturbing even the Minbari who knew nothing of English. "Can you PLEASE not be insane for now?! We have people to rescue from a blockade!"

" _Oh, we can do that, Sheri-boy,_ " Riza replied.

" _We'll drive you crazy later,_ " Ron added. " _So, what the hell are we doin'?_ "

"The Centauri have set up a blockade at Zagross 7," Ivanova informed. "We need to clear the minefield so Minbari Rangers trapped on the planet can escape."

" _Leadeth the way. We'll get them off the ground,_ " Ron said.

Sheridan wondered how they could do that, as neither craft were atmospheric flight capable. "Who do I—"

"The others are not yet familiar with your language but I will be happy to relay your orders to the crew."

The captain was pleased to know that, if unnerved by the presence of two Pinkertons. "Thank you, Mr. Lennier. Put us on course for Zagros 7."

The _White Star_ , along with the two Starfleet ships, soon entered hyperspace, their destination? Zagross 7.

* * *

 **Babylon 5**

* * *

Morden was slightly disappointed in Londo, but the man would come back eventually, so this little deal was of no consequence. "Since you feel strongly about going our separate ways I wanted to be sure we understood the terms of our separation. Ah, here we are." A map of the galaxy formed, and an area of the galaxy was carved up, a c-shape comprising space for the Centauri to take. "This area over here is for the Centauri. Conquer all the worlds you like, we won't bother you. As long as it's understood that this area is ours. Take anything you want over here. We'll take everything over there." The rest of the galaxy was in red, separated by a border of fire.

"What guarantee do we have that your forces will not decide to turn around and attack us?" Londo Mollari, B5 Ambassador of the Centauri, asked.

"None. Ambassador, we both know what promises and treaties mean."

' _Very little, clearly,_ ' Londo snarked in his mind.

"All I can tell you is we have what we want. The rest is of no concern to us."

Londo simply agreed. He was free of Morden and his associates. He should have listened to Vir earlier and had nothing to do with him. "Done. We go our separate ways. And we owe each other nothing."

"Of course," Morden said. "One small exception hardly worth mentioning." He pointed out a small world near the border of the two territories. "This world? It's on the border of your space, but we have a vested interest in it. I've taken the liberty of asking Lord Refa to secure it for us."

"Refa?" Londo asked, somewhat surprised.

"Well, you said you wanted nothing more to do with us and he was quite open to my request," Morden explained. "He secured the planet for us, and now my associates will take custody of it. The rest is yours. Good day, Ambassador."

"Mr. Morden… before you go, are the other ships that destroyed our ship a week or so back related to your 'associates' in any way?" Morden looked offended at the accusation, but he supposed Londo DID deserve to make it: after all, he had been wanting to break off their relationship since the bombing of Narn. He could have seen it as retribution.

"No, they are not, Ambassador," Morden informed. "My associates have never seen them before. And they aren't friendly to my associates, either: Two of them stopped some of my associates from doing something for another person we have an agreement with."

"Very well," Londo said. "I apologize. I was thinking I've never really seen the ships that you and your associates have used in helping us. Perhaps one of these days—"

"Perhaps. Meanwhile, as I said, tell your forces to leave the mines but to move their ships out of that area. You don't want them hanging around when my associates come for Zagros 7." Morden left Londo's quarters at that point.

And Londo wondered just what was going on in the galaxy…

* * *

 **Zagros 7 - USS** _ **Firestorm**_

* * *

The 'mines' weren't mines, Takeshi had noted. They were watered down versions of the Cardassian weapons platforms that raped them during the battle of Chin'toka, missing the shields and torpedo launchers. In short, they were pathetic.

He fired another burst of Phaser Cannon fire, shredding another two 'mines'. "Geez, this is rather easy," he remarked. "And no sign of a Centauri Cruiser to support them, either?"

"None," Kim replied. "That makes no sense: the mines are pathetic compared to a ship like the White Star, let alone one of ours."

On the White Star, Sheridan agreed.

"We're picking up a disturbance. One ship, unknown configuration."

"Show me."

The holographic display changed to that of a familiar ship.

Takeshi noticed it, as well. "Hello…" he said. "When we last saw you, a swarm of you were trying to tear the _Achilles_ apart. We slaughtered you. Now you only send one ship? You're just begging for annihilation."

"Shadows," Delenn exclaimed. "In Valen's name!" And now they had a name for their enemy. The Shadow attack ship fired its' beam weapon at the White Star, missing the ship narrowly. "They missed. They never miss."

"They don't recognize our ship," Sheridan realized. "They want to find out who we are before they destroy us. They'll either cripple us so they can board us or drive us off so they can follow us."

" _We'll take them out before they can do anything like that,_ " Takeshi replied, as he lined up on the Shadow vessel.

"Negative, get the Rangers clear! We'll get that thing to follow us!"

The White Star took out the last mine, clearing the way for the rangers.

"All right, head for the jumpgate," Sheridan informed.

"Would it not be faster to open a jump point?"

"I don't want them to know we have that potential. Now hit it."

The _White Star_ headed for the gate, followed by the Starfleet ships and the Shadow.

"We cannot lose them in hyperspace," Delenn informed. "They will follow us wherever we go."

THAT sounded like something Sheridan could use. "I'm counting on it."

"It's still there, Captain," Lennier informed.

"Good," Sheridan replied.

"Listen to me, Captain," Delenn pleaded. "You don't know what you're dealing with. The weapons on this ship aren't strong enough to hurt a Shadow vessel that size. We must find help. We cannot hope to destroy a ship like that alone."

"With respect, Ambassador, I've heard that before." Delenn remembered the _Drala Fi_ , which Sheridan destroyed. Unstoppable, until Sheridan nuked the living fuck out of it.

"Enemy vessel's closing," Ivanova noted. "Captain, why didn't you want them to know we can make our own jump point into hyperspace?"

"Because most ships this size can't do it: they have to rely on a jumpgate," Sheridan informed. "As long as it thinks we're in that class, we've got one extra weapon in our arsenal. Tell me, Commander, ever wondered what would happen if you opened a jump point while inside a jumpgate?"

"No. And neither should you," Ivanova noted. "Earthforce experimented with the idea during the Minbari War. They called it the 'bonehead maneuver.'" She turned to the Minbari and said, "No offense."

"None taken," Delenn and Lennier replied simultaneously.

Ivanova turned back to Sheridan and continued, "Because it's suicide. Forming a jump point inside a jumpgate releases a huge amount of energy. None of our ships could clear the blast range before being blown up."

"But this isn't one of our ships," Sheridan replied. "Mr. Lennier, what do you think? Is this ship fast enough to get out before the gate blows?"

"I have no idea," Lennier replied.

"Well, it'll do. We should just about be to Sector 45 by now. Tell them to head to the local jumpgate, best speed."

As Lennier relayed the order, Delenn asked the question on everyone's mind. "Captain, why this jumpgate?"

"It's expendable," Sheridan replied. "Used to be the Markab system, but since they died off others have used the abandoned gate to strip the place bare. I do not like grave robbers. This should take care of two problems at once." To be honest, no one did.

"Approaching jumpgate," Lennier informed.

"Stand by jumpgate sequence," Sheridan ordered. "Ivanova, you ride the jump engines, be ready on my signal."

"You ready?"

"No. But you may proceed anyway."

"Activate jumpgate sequence."

The three ships exited hyperspace near the dead world.

"Now!" He counted down, then gave the order. "Aft jump engines online."

A jump point formed inside the gate, just as the ship phased into existence. MISTAKE. "Now! Punch it!"

The three ships pushed their engines to the redline, getting as far away as they could, even as the _Firestorm_ and _Sekhmet_ drew close to the _White Star_ , their shields enveloping it.

Everyone was thrown from their seats on the Minbari ship, as consoles sparked.

" _That was fun!_ " Ron announced.

" _DO IT AGAIN! DO IT AGAIN! DO IT AGAIN! DO IT AGAIN! DO IT AGAIN!_ " Riza, somehow, was much more vocal.

" _Well… that was something you don't do every day,_ " Takeshi remarked. "White Star _, you all okay over there?_ "

"We're fine, Captain!" Sheridan replied. "Thanks for the assist." Then he heard BOTH Pinkertons chanting 'do it again'. "Please close the channel. Those two terrify me more than the shadows ever will."

"And why would you say that?" Delenn asked.

Sheridan gave Delenn a look that spoke of horror beyond words. "Because they're human."

* * *

After Sheridan and his crew had returned to the station, and the EarthGov official had left, the _Firestorm_ paid another visit to B5.

Takeshi, upon landing at the station, had gone to see Sheridan and Delenn. "OK, as you probably guessed, I'd fought that kind of ship before," he told them. "A whole swarm of them was attacking the _Achilles_ when we arrived in the area, and shredded them. That's how we met Riza."

After Sheridan had shuddered slightly at the mention of Riza, Takeshi continued, "Now, while I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie, I _do_ make it a point of knowing who and what I'm facing. Ambassador, you referred to them as 'Shadows'. What exactly _are_ they?"

"There are beings in the universe billions of years older than either of our races, Captain. All but one have left, and the Shadows are older than they, and because of that, we have no other name for them. A thousand years ago, we fought them, and won, with the remaining first ones. But they are gone. And the shadows have returned to Z'ha'dum."

Takeshi groaned a bit. "Reminds me of the Iconians," he remarked.

"Iconians?" Delenn asked.

"Remember when we first came here, and I mentioned the ancient empire trying to conquer our galaxy?" Takeshi asked in reply. "Those are the Iconians. They ruled over 200,000 years ago, and their empire spanned most of the galaxy, until their subjugated species rose up and overthrew them. Now they're back in our galaxy, trying to reclaim what was once theirs."

"The Shadows returned every one thousand years, Captain. And now they have returned. With your help, this may be the last time we see the Shadows."

"Well, we'll certainly do our best," Takeshi replied. "Thank you for informing me about this, Delenn. I should probably get back to our fleet, let them know the true nature of this threat."

Delenn bowed slightly. "Give my regards to Captain Pinkerton."

"And tell them both to stay away from my station," Sheridan replied. "Things are insane enough without them around."

"Gotcha," Takeshi replied. "We might have other crews come over every so often for updates and to see how this station compares to some of ours back home, but I'll let Ron and Riza know the two of them are not necessarily welcome."

"They're welcome. The crazy isn't."

Takeshi turned to leave, but paused. "See you soon." He disappeared in a column of light, shocking the hell out of them.

"They have teleportation technology, too?!" Delenn exclaimed.

"What the hell DON'T they have?" Sheridan asked. "The ability to go back in time?!"

* * *

 **Takeshi Yamato: Oh, Sheridan… there's a lot you have yet to learn about your new neighbors…**

 **For anyone who's wondering, I was inspired by 117Jorn's "Star Wars: The Babylon Saga" story with Ron. Wanted to see what an STO Crossover would be like. And since Ron's more of a B5 Expert than I am, asking for his help was pretty much a given.**

 **Ron the True Fan: been watching since I was 9, and thanks to the internet, I can watch it again whenever the hell I want. Besides, B5 is one of the Big Three in sci-fi. And with the aforementioned fic, I've got a foot in all three.**

 **Takeshi Yamato: I'll definitely be relying on Ron's B5 knowledge until I get a chance to watch the series, myself, but I'll make up for that with my STO knowledge.**

 **Though, don't expect this to be worked on all the time—mainly whenever Ron is bored, and none of our other friends are on to work on his other projects.**

 **Ron the True Fan: Oh, Take… you have NO idea how often that happens. May the Great Bird and the Maker bless your lives, readers. We're going off the map, and here… there be dragons!**

 **Takeshi Yamato: See you next time! :D**

 **Ja Ne!**


	2. Chapter 2

_Captain's log, USS_ Ra-Cailum _, Stardate 88208.7, local date March 18th, 2260._

 _The temporary base is fully complete, and we are currently preparing for war against the Shadows. The_ Achilles _is fully repaired, and we are ready for full on war with anyone short of the Minbari and the Vorlons._

 _Takeshi and I are currently en route to Babylon 5, to pick up a scientist named Kirkish. Someone linked to the events involving the Shadows._

* * *

The _Firestorm_ and _Ra-Cailum_ emerged from the Jump Gate, entering the Epsilon Eridani sector as they approached Babylon 5.

"Babylon control, this is the _Ra-Cailum_. We're launching a shuttle to pick up a VIP from Babylon 5. Requesting permission to dock."

" _Permission granted,_ Ra-Cailum. Safe journey."

Ron sat back in his chair, idly flipping through his book. "What's the status of the Scorpions?"

"They've just reassumed their stations, sir," the Comm Officer reported. The two Scorpions from the _Sienov s'Okhala_ were almost continuously patrolling the area near B5 for their task force, only taking breaks to rotate out crew and replenish supplies.

"Then prepare for departure as soon as doctor Kirkish is on board. And contact the White Star once we get out of range of B5's comms. We don't need them picking up any transmissions from us to that ship."

"Aye, sir."

The _Delta Flyer_ -Class _Isis_ returned to the ship, followed shortly by the Scorpion fighter leaving the ship and the bay doors closing. "Set course for home."

The _Ra-Cailum_ turned, and then opened a jump point as it left B5 airspace.

* * *

 **8 hours later**

* * *

"Everyone in this room knows what Earth is turning into." Sheridan paced the room while briefing his staff. "We can't allow President Clark to get ahold of a Shadow ship. That kind of power in his hands could be the end of everything we have worked for. We have got to stop that ship before it leaves Ganymede."

"Swell. I love it. How?" Sheridan let out a small breath. This was the part they would not like. "Delenn and I will take the White Star into Earth-controlled space. With luck, we'll find the ship destroy it on the ground before they can activate it. If not—"

"You can't do this. As soon as you open a jump point, you'll be picked up by the early warning system."

"I know."

"Our _own ships_ will be sent in to destroy you. You'll be completely outgunned!"

"We understand. Neither of us has any illusions about what we are planning to do."

Franklin shook his head. This was not something they could do yet. "You can't take on Earth. I mean, not now. Later—"

"Later is too late," Delenn informed. "We've already notified the _White Star_. It's on standby, awaiting our arrival."

"So, what are you gonna do when they open fire?" Franklin asked "Fire back on one of our own ships? What if you're captured?"

"We won't be captured," Sheridan promised. "One way or another. The decision's mine and mine alone. And it's made. The rest of you will be needed here to cover my absence."

"It's a two day jump to Earth space. That's a long time to be gone. I'm leaving behind my Identicard, my uniform command rank, anything that could lead back here if something should go wrong." he gazed at Ivanova.

"Susan, in our absence, I'm leaving you and Garibaldi in charge of the Rangers. I'd tell you to take good care of the station, but I know that's not necessary. I've left instructions in my desk for a cover story if we don't come back. You'll send out my Starfury and use the auto-destruct sequence." The gaze turned to Franklin now. "Doctor, you'll provide the organic mass to simulate a casualty. I wish none of this were necessary. But we all knew that, sooner or later, we'd have to deal with Earth. So I guess it's time we got down to business. If there's any way we can come back we will."

* * *

 **USS** _ **Firestorm**_ **\- 'home' system**

* * *

Both ships dropped out of hyperspace, heading towards the now-complete station, which still hadn't been given a formal name.

"So, Sheridan's on his way to Earth to deal with another of those Shadow Vessels, I take it?" Takeshi asked over the comm to Ron.

" _He plans to destroy it before it gets off the ground. Sound plan, but we're faster then the White Star in hyperspace, so he could've asked us to do it._ " Their warp drive, combined with a cloaking device, could get them into the Sol system, and a single photon torpedo would vaporize the Shadow ship before Earthforce could respond. Ron was still chastising Takeshi over his overuse of quantum torpedoes against targets that couldn't withstand a phaser strike, let alone a torpedo explosion.

"Guess he doesn't want to become over-reliant on us," Takeshi remarked. "We're still sending backup in case he gets in over his head, right?"

" _I'ma sending you after him,_ " Ron informed. " _The_ Ra-Cailum _'s made a cloaking device just for your ship. Easy to install, and it won't explode on you like the Pegy cloak._ " STILL an embarrassment for Starfleet was the USS Pegasus cloaking device.

"Thanks," Takeshi replied. "That'll come in handy."

"I'll send Sonja over to install it. Ra-Cailum out." The link cut out.

"He thinks our crew sucks at their jobs."

"More like he wants the job done by someone he knows won't fuck up."

"Either way, Matt'll appreciate the help," Takeshi guessed. "Not to mention it'll be nice to have a Cloaking Device again." The _Raging Tempest_ had possessed a salvaged Klingon model of cloaking device, but it had been lost with the rest of the ship.

A Starfleet-designed cloak would be more effective, as Klingon cloaks weren't fully compatible with Starfleet ships. This wouldn't cause as many problems as before.

Thirty minutes later, the device was installed, Sonja was back on her ship, and the _Firestorm_ entered Hyperspace for the Sol System.

* * *

 **Babylon 5 - Nightwatch security office**

* * *

"As liaison to the Nightwatch office back home I've received several disturbing communiques over the last few days." Zack Allen rolled his eyes. This was ridiculous to the extreme. Nightwatch was reminding him too much of the old Gestapo, but they were legal by order of the President. "The good news is our efforts to find corruption and disloyalty here and back home have succeeded beyond our expectations."

"So, what's the bad news?" someone else asked.

"Their findings confirm our worst fears. Earth has been sold out by our own people. Senators, high-ranking military officers, news media correspondents, even some of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Everything we've been seeing lately: The libelous attacks on the president, alien forces encroaching on our territory the lies and subversion going on back home. They're all part of an organized effort to weaken our government from within - as a prelude to invasion."

"I don't believe this."

"They'll start making arrests within the next two months. The lists have already been drawn up."

"What can we do?"

"Earth needs all the information we can give her. Any source is acceptable. To make it easier for sources to come forward we're going to allow them to give us information anonymously. We're authorized to look into past history, social contacts, party affiliations to conduct e-mail and vid surveillance of Babcom and Stellarcom transmissions-"

"Hold it, how far does this go? Are we supposed to suspect everyone?"

"Of course not. Nightwatch members are free of suspition, as we're all working in the interests of Earth. Now, four months ago, six ships just appeared out of nowhere. You all know this. What you don't know is that the Ministry considers them a threat."

"And why is that?" Allen asked.

The nightwatch rep pulled up an image of the _Ra-Cailum_. "What little we know is that they have a mixed crew: humans and aliens, with humans making up the minority. Their captain is clearly cybernetically enhanced, and we don't know how corrupted the human members of the crews are."

"I see…" Allen remarked. He honestly didn't, but he was in this gig for the money, not the patriotism.

"We have orders to arrest any of them should they come back to Babylon 5. The boys back home will find out where they're from… and if they're still enslaving humans there."

"I heard they're from another universe."

The zealot shook his head. "Outright lies. It's more likely that they're the descendants of humans taken from Earth centuries ago, and indoctrinated to thinking that what their masters say is the truth. Our analysts think that those ships are a prelude… to invasion."

Allen didn't quite believe that, but again, money over patriotism. And he kept his thoughts to himself, otherwise they might start thinking he wasn't loyal.

"The President's sent down an official order. If possible, we're to capture one of their people, then, in the pretext of returning the prisoner, we will storm one of the ships, imprison the crew, and take it back to earth. We need to be ready in case of invasion. Earth MUST be safe-guarded. As for the other officers, well, we won't look at them unless we detect any unusual activity on their part."

"In that case, may I ask a question? Does anyone in this room know where the captain is?"

A question that was on all of their minds.

"The chief said he was going out on patrol, makin' sure he was getting his flight pay. He's a pilot."

As the meeting was adjourned and they all went back to their normal duties, Allen went over everything discussed and wondered if some of the other Nightwatch Members weren't entirely… _sane_ …

* * *

 **USS** _ **Firestorm**_ **\- Sol system**

* * *

The Mercury-class ship exited hyperspace outside the range of the early-warning nets, cloaking and jumping to warp speed, heading for the largest celestial body in the solar system besides the sun. "ETA to _White Star_ arrival: 3.57 hours," Rina announced.

"Alright, let's do this nice and quiet-like," Takeshi remarked as he eased the ship closer to Ganymede. "Status on the facility?"

"I'm detecting another Shadow attack ship on the surface, inactive," Kim reported. "From what the science boys on the Ra-Cailum have figured out, the Shadow ships use a sentient being as a CPU, and without one, they're inactive."

Takeshi knew that the brain was still the most powerful computer in existence, the positronic computers used by the Soong-class androids and the one in Ron's skull being the only exceptions to the rule. To run one of the nastiest and powerful ships to exist, they would need an equally powerful computer. It also sickened him to the nth degree: Shadow technology was insidious. "Hopefully we can take it out before it becomes active," he said. "Prep a Photon Torpedo, and target that ship. If something happens, I want to be ready to take it out ASAP."

"We'll need to decloak, and I still haven't fully synchronized our cloaking device to the shield generator," Matt replied. "Our shields will be down for 45 seconds until I can fix that."

"How long will it take to fix?"

"With the _Defiant_? 3 hours. With this thing? A couple of weeks."

Takeshi groaned. "Wonderful," he said. "Well, luckily their targeting computers aren't as good as ours, so we can evade fire rather easily, but still…"

"You'd rather have some protection as well. I'll try to fix it as soon as possible. Won't be in time for combat, but it'll happen."

* * *

 _ **White Star**_ **\- arrival at Ganymede**

* * *

The jump point forced itself open as the _White Star_ shot out like a WW2 torpedo. "All right, everyone, we've set off every long-range scanner in the area, so we don't have a lot of time. We have to—"

"Captain. I'm picking up a signal on the frequency provided by Dr. Kirkish. It's very faint. I can only get audio. It's from Ganymede."

Sheridan nodded at Lennier's report. "Put it through."

Lennier pressed a key, and in came a message. " _IXP One to Base. IXP One to Base. Ready to begin transference. Subject is approaching target. Repeat, subject is approaching target._ "

"What's he talking about?" Shepard asked.

"The Shadow vessels use living creatures as their central core," Delenn explained. "Whoever steps inside merges with it, becomes one with the ship. After that, it's fully functional. They must be sending someone inside right now,"

"Faster, Lennier," Sheridan ordered. "We need to get there."

The _White Star_ picked up speed as it headed towards Ganymede, not noticing the faint ripple effect nearby…

"John," Delenn told him, "if whoever's going inside hasn't been properly prepared the results could be disastrous."

' _THAT'S an understatement,_ ' Sheridan thought, as the transmission continued.

" _He's moving into the breach. He's disappeared inside the ship. Something's happening. We've lost bioscan. Something's—Oh, my God! It's moving. It's moving!_ " A loud screech was heard that deafened them all for a moment.

"We've got visual," Lennier informed.

"Put it through," Sheridan ordered.

The holographic field showed the Shadow ship on struts, moving around slightly before firing its' beam weapon at anything that moved.

"In Valen's name," Delenn exclaimed. "It's _**awake**_!"

The Shadow vessel moved upward, shattering the dome it had been kept in, continuing to fire at anything nearby.

"This is what I was afraid of," Delenn told them. "The merging was not handled properly. The ship is out of control, insane. It will destroy anything in its path."

"Then we've got to stop it before anyone gets here. Engines at maximum. Stand by, weapons system. Prepare to fire."

The fore stations moved closer as the ship closed in.

"John, if it's confused, disoriented, we may have a chance," Delenn informed. "It's a small one—"

"It's more than an earth cruiser will have against that thing! Fire!"

The _White Star_ 's pulse cannons fired on the Shadow, which returned fire, missing the Minbari cruiser… but hitting something else that was invisible.

With a rippling effect, the _Firestorm_ emerged from Cloak, and a lot of cursing could be heard in Takeshi's voice over the comms. " _BLOODY FRAKKING HELL!_ " he was yelling. " _THE BLOODY THING_ **HAD** _TO GET A FRAKKING LUCKY HIT ON US, DIDN'T IT?!_ "

"Where—how the hell does that thing—"

The Shadow ship fired on the White Star, narrowly missing again. "Captain, its weapons are at full strength. If it hits us dead-on, we cannot survive the blast."

"That's all right," Sheridan replied with a grin. "I did what I needed to do. I got him mad enough to follow us. Redirect power to engines. Come about."

"Course?" Lennier asked.

"Jupiter," Sheridan replied. "If we can't outfight it, let's outthink it."

The _White Star_ shot towards Jupiter, followed by the Shadow vessel while the _Firestorm_ remained outside Jupiter's atmosphere.

"Damage report!" Takeshi yelled out.

"That shot hit our main deflector dish and damaged half a dozen EPS conduits," Matt informed. "Shields are offline!"

"Get them back up!" Takeshi ordered. "Let's hope Sheridan knows what he's doing! We'll give him a distraction—Earthforce knows we're here now, and I'd imagine they won't be happy!"

"I'm picking up a ship closing in, range 300000 kilometers!" Kim reported. "It's an Earthforce _Omega_ -Class destroyer, closing in at one-half impulse power, IDed as EAS _Agamemnon_!"

"Hurry up with those shields, Matt!" Takeshi ordered, as he swung the _Firestorm_ around to face the approaching _Agamemnon_.

"This isn't something I can quickly patch!" Matt yelled in reply.

The Agamemnon's weapons array began searching for the _Firestorm_ as a target, closing in on the Starfleet ship.

"Sir, we've got a bigger problem," Rina reported. "The navigational deflector is inactive."

"And?"

"That means—"

The _Agamemnon_ fired its' plasma/x-ray lasers at the _Mercury_ -Class ship, scoring a direct hit. A hit that would've never happened with the deflector online.

"Oh, dammit!" Takeshi swore, kicking the throttle up, boosting the _Firestorm_ out of the _Agamemnon_ 's forward firing arcs. "Matt, hurry up with the repairs! Kim, you have any weak points on that thing I can hit?"

"The weapons hardpoints are heavily armored, sir: we can't take them out without doing heavy damage to the destroyer," Kim informed. A pulse bolt narrowly missed the ship's port wing, and another impacted the upper hull, producing a blast mark. "We're just going to have to hit the damn thing's engines. Our phasers can knock those out with a few well-placed shots."

Takeshi nodded, kicking the _Firestorm_ into action as it blew past the _Agamemnon_ before pulling a one-eighty-degree turn, unloading Phaser Cannon bursts into the engines of the _Omega_ -Class Destroyer.

The destroyer, however, wasn't just going to let them disable the ship, as it fired all four of its' aft-facing weapons emplacements at once.

"You have GOT to be frakking kidding me!" Takeshi yelled. "How many guns does this thing HAVE?!" he didn't let that stop him, though, weaving through the fire as best he could even as he unloaded another round into the engines.

Disabling the _Agamemnon_ was out of the question as they moved closer to Jupiter's atmosphere, though, and the _Mercury_ shot away, barrel-rolling into the atmosphere at full impulse, avoiding plasma beams as best they could.

"I've got the deflector working again, Captain!" Matt informed. "We can jump at any time!"

Takeshi nodded. There wasn't much else they could do. "Status of the _White Star_ and that Shadow vessel?" he asked.

"Shadow vessel is destroyed," Kim reported. " _White Star_ is climbing back up. We need to jump, sir: the _Agamemnon_ 's shots are getting more accurate, and if they hit our engines…"

"I know," he replied. "Rina, send a flash message to the _White Star_ informing them of the _Agamemnon_." He triggered the deflector dish, opening a jump point into which the _Firestorm_ dove.

* * *

' **Home' System**

* * *

" _And ISN has confirmed earlier reports that an unidentified alien ship attacked a research lab on Ganymede. According to Earthforce, the ship was pursued to Jupiter and destroyed by the EAS Agamemnon. Nonetheless, this incident has heightened concerns about planetary security. President Clark is considering a new plan that will provide greater security. In related news, the Agamemnon also engaged one of the 'Starfleet' vessels at Jupiter, causing no damage. There has been no statement from the commanders of the unknown force, but President Clarke feels that this is another sign that the two ships belonging to this 'United federation of Planets' are only the prelude to an invasion force_."

"Sorry about this, Ron," Takeshi said, as he and Ron watched the news. "If that Shadow vessel hadn't gotten a lucky hit—"

"And if wishes were horses, we'd be back home killing the Heralds. It was out of your control. There is nothing you could have done about it. Clarke's paranoia patrol can say what they like: we know the truth and the truth is we're doing nothing but trying to save lives."

Takeshi sighed. "Thanks," he said. "And… I get the feeling we might need to deal with Clarke sooner or later. 'Paranoia Patrol' is one way to describe his forces—'Gestapo' might be another."

The comm chirped. " _Commodore, I'm tuning us into a live broadcast from ISN now. You're going to want to hear this._ "

Takeshi rose an eyebrow. "Commodore?"

"I'm not promoting myself to Admiral. And the title's very much against my will. Put it through."

A reporter appeared on the monitor. " _And to confirm earlier reports, President Clark has signed a decree today declaring martial law throughout Earth Central citing threats to planetary security,_ " the reporter said. " _He's expected to provide information to support this action at a closed meeting of the full Earth Senate tomorrow. We repeat, Earth is now under martial law._ "

"Son of a Protestant whore."

"First Earth, then next comes the Colonies, using any excuse that conveniently plops into his lap," Takeshi remarked, scowling. "And anyone who opposes him is conveniently 'disappeared'." He looked at Ron. "This is definitely feeling like what the history books said about the events in Nazi Germany leading up to World War II, Ron."

"Clarke didn't study history, it seems. He doesn't remember what happened to the Nazis. When we're done with the Shadows, Clarke's next, and we're not stopping until that fucker's head is on a pike hanging from the prow of my ship!"

* * *

Riza was undergoing a full exam in the base's sickbay, including a DNA scan. They knew she was related to Ron, but how closely... well, they were going to find out.

Helping in the exam was Mogire, the _Firestorm_ 's Betazoid doctor, who was enjoying having access to a full medical facility for a change.

"Amazing," she was saying as the scanners went over Riza's body. "We'd never have been able to do something this detailed on the _Firestorm_ , or even the _Raging Tempest_."

"Why not? This shit seems more compact than the shit we've got."

"Not compact enough," the _Ra-Cailum_ 's doctor, Rutia Yulanra, informed. "The _Defiant_ -type is a purely combat ship: designed for short-term assignments that involve a lot of guns shooting at something. Limited medical facilities, no private crew quarters. Biggest space on the ship is main engineering, and that's a fraction of the size of even the _Constitution_ -Class."

"And the _Mercury_ -Class isn't much better," Mogire added. "Only the Captain's Quarters and XO's Quarters are truly private—and the Captain's Quarters need to be, considering he shares them with his wife—and even the mess hall is just a replicator and some tables, with possibly enough room for a small reheating oven. They sometimes call the _Defiant_ -Class and its variants 'a set of guns strapped to an engine'. Well, the _Mercury_ -Class is the same way, only they strapped the guns to a much bigger engine."

"You could say the _Achilles_ is the same way," Riza remarked. "Limited facilities for the crew, almost no gravity 'cepting the rotational section, nothing but guns and hangar bays. But my ship's fuckin' massive: it's longer then the freaking _Ra-Cailum_."

"And the _Ra-Cailum_ 's got five times the internal space of a Galaxy-Class starship." A tone was heard from the computer. "Analysis complete. Genetic structure 98.4% match."

"Confirmed," Mogire said. "About the only thing different is the second X-Chromosome." She looked at Riza. "You're not just related to Ron—technically, you _**are**_ him."

"Buh?"

The Betazoid sighed before facepalming. "You're basically his sister."

"Nice! I never had a sibling! My parents were scared shitless just by me. don't know why."

'… _My god, she's just as crazy as him,_ ' Mogire thought. ' _She's just better on the male eye._ '

Still, the results of the test made her wonder. The only other time they'd had results that similar was when they got a sample from Takeshi's Mirror Universe counterpart, Hitomi Maxwell. Which was why she was wondering. Did Takeshi have a counterpart in this universe like Ron had Riza? Was Takeshi's counterpart Genderflipped or not? And were they like Takeshi, an adrenaline junkie combat pilot, like Hitomi, a manipulative bastard/wench who would do whatever they had to to get what they wanted, or something else entirely?

Little did she know she'd be haunted by that question for several years to come…

* * *

"That is a lot of fighters." Over 500 Peregrine-Class fighters sat in cradles on the _Ra-Cailum_ 's shuttlebay, ready for deployment. "How exactly did he get this set up?"

"Three weeks of careful work and a LOT of pissed off carrier captains. He's having them all shipped out onto the _D'Deridex_ tomorrow morning and sending the Double-D to Babylon 5."

"Give them support in the wake of what's going on over at Earth?"

Saren shrugged at his fellow Militia captain. "I have no idea what goes through his mind. To be honest, I don't WANT to know."

Veleen nodded. "True," she said. "He scares even the Klingons. I've heard some of them call him 'Windstorm', apparently in reference to one of their old parables.

"The last thing we need is him screwing with our heads. I'm just taking the fighters and leaving as soon as they're loaded. The _Ra-Cailum_ will be the only visible ship at Babylon 5: he's going there under the pretext of explaining the presence of the _Firestorm_ 's presence at Jupiter."

Veleen nodded. "I'll probably bring the _Sienov s'Okhala_ along under cloak, as well," she said. "I might not have Captain Yamato's Spatial Awareness, but I still have a bad feeling about what's going on…"

"Tal Shiar wannabes weren't your first hint?"

* * *

 **Babylon 5**

* * *

All hell was breaking loose. 6 hours earlier, Sheridan had been informed that Nightwatch was taking over station security. In the not-so-polite words of captain and colonel Pinkerton? Fuck. That. He began plotting a way to get things back to normal, and his day was about to get worse as his link beeped. "Sheridan. go."

" _Sir, the_ Ra-Cailum _just exited hyperspace,_ " Ivanova informed. " _Captain Pinkerton's shuttle just left the ship and is en route._ "

Sheridan sighed. This wasn't going to end well. "Warn him about Nightwatch," he said. "Given how they take orders from Clarke, and how they've been ordered to take over security, I wouldn't be surprised if they try to take him or some of his crew prisoner."

" _Knowing Colonel Pinkerton, she would already know about that, and if the captain is her 'brother'—_ "

"Don't. Last thing I need to think of is them as being related." Sheridan sat down, double facepalming and beginning to sob.

* * *

"Ah, Babylon 5. Still as beautiful as we left her."

Sonja shook her head as her CO pulled out a phaser and handed it to her. "You suspect something, boss?"

"Nightwatch, Tal Shiar, different words for the same fucking people. Just shoot them if they try anything."

"Got it," replied one of the security personnel with them on the shuttle.

The Ra-Horakhty put down in the bay, and the four left their chairs, opening the rear hatch and exiting the shuttle. "That's far enough!" Five security officers, all wearing Nightwatch armbands, blocked their way into the terminal.

"Really? Saw this coming."

"I think anyone who learned the lessons of Nazi Germany from WWII would see this coming, sir," the security officer replied, training his rifle on the Nightwatch people.

"You're under arrest."

"For what? Just not wearing your uniform?"

"For terrorist actions against the Earth Alliance. You've been allowed to walk free for too long, and now your Federation will be outed as the conquering empire it really is. You won't conquer humanity so easily."

The security officer sighed. "We're doing the conquering?" he asked sarcastically. "Your President's just steamed we're not under his thumb, like he's trying to do with the rest of humanity—just like Adolf Hitler did in the 1940's. Remember him from the history books?"

"Enough. Put your hands on top of your heads."

"How about no, and you can suck it. Long and hard." The Nightwatch liaison fired his PPG at Ron, the plasma bolt hitting his personal shield. "That tickled."

"What the hell?!"

"Our turn, asshole," the security officer remarked, before firing off a volley of stun bolts from his rifle.

The Nightwatch idiots hit the deck, unconscious, and probably with cracked heads. "Sucks to be them," Ron said. "Let's go. We've got better things to do."

"Actually, boss, I think I have an idea…" the security officer said, looking at the unconscious idiots musingly.

* * *

"I don't think you're from my ship. I don't have too many human security personnel, and I know all of them."

"Transferred from the _Firestorm_ for the escort assignment while the Dresie's being repaired."

Ron chuckled as he finished tying a knot. "Explains that."

The five idiots had been stripped to their underwear, then hung from that same underwear off a balcony in one of the shopping districts, which would soon open, the words 'Idiotic Zealot' stenciled on each of their foreheads in permanent marker. It was a simple prank, but one intended for maximum humiliation to the victims.

"Come on. We've got to get to the captain's office so we can get this press conference started."

* * *

 **Sheridan's office**

* * *

Sheridan awaited the insanity of the captain to arrive when the man and three others entered. "Captain, do you have access to a comm unit that will transmit across alliance space?" Ron asked. "I need to clear the air a little."

"We do, but… why are you not acting like yourself?"

"I AM acting like myself. This is me on the clock and not wanting to amuse anyone."

Sheridan took a moment to consider that. "So, the crazy's… an act? A false front?" he asked.

"Not exactly. I'm missing half my brain: some of the sanity had to go with it."

"So you can control the crazy?" Hope soared for Riza not acting like a screwball.

"I can, I just choose not to 99% of the time."

Sheridan certainly hoped Riza was the same way. It meant he might be able to ask her to tone down the crazy. "Alright," he said. "Let's get you set up with that comm unit. Also, I hope Nightwatch hasn't given you too much trouble—they've taken over station security entirely, even going over Garibaldi's head."

"We got ambushed in the bay. They're sufferin' for it."

Sheridan didn't want to know.

* * *

 **RRW _D'Deridex_**

* * *

" _ISN has just received a report from Babylon 5. The leader of the Federation task force is holding an impromptu conference to clarify the situation that happened recently. Please standby while we patch them in._ "

"Well, here he goes," one of the Bridge Officers remarked. "Hopefully they'll listen."

The image of their acting commander appeared on the screen, standing in front of a podium emblazoned with the emblem of the Earth Alliance. " _Good evening, ISN watchers,_ " he said. " _My name is Ronald Pinkerton, captain of the Federation starship_ Ra-Cailum _. A few days ago, the starship_ Firestorm _was reported in Earth space. This is something I can confirm, but note, we did not attack that outpost._ " Images of the Shadow attack ship appeared on the screen, firing on the out-of-shot _White Star_. " _The researchers discovered this vessel. We encountered one of these ourselves, and we were en route to warn them, but we were too late. They awoke it, and it destroyed the outpost. We tried to save lives, and now Clarke attempts to blame us for destroying it._ "

"He's doing well," the officer remarked. "Let's hope they believe him."

" _Starfleet's first duty is to the truth,_ " Ron continued. " _We have no reason to lie. We only sought to help those people, and because we were too late, Clarke makes us look like the villains. I leave this in the hands of the people. Let them decide how they want to look at our actions. Thank you._ "

As the image disappeared from the screen, the Bridge Officer smirked. "Clever," they said. "A slight bending of the truth to hide the _White Star_ , along with an appeal to the people to think for themselves. Might undermine Clarke a bit."

"He'll spin this to further his own agenda," Saren remarked. "Sela and Hakeev did the same damn thing before the Iconians decided to take matters into their own hands. Keep us cloaked, but make an orbit of the planet."

They did as ordered, the _D'Deridex_ making a slow orbit of the planet below them.

"There is a massive installation under the surface. The power readings are almost the same as those for an Odyssey or Bortasqu'-Class ship."

"In this universe? The reactor must be kilometers wide."

"Agreed. I wonder what's down there…"

"Answers later; keep us hidden from B5 under we're ordered to decloak."

"Aye, sir."

* * *

 **Babylon 5**

* * *

The Nightwatch personnel were embarrassed. Not by the fact that they had been screwed by Pinkerton, but by the fact they had been tricked into a cargo bay and sealed in.

" _If I can have your attention,_ " Sheridan's voice said over the PA in that bay. " _As of this time, 0315 Earth Standard Time I am placing you under arrest for conspiracy to mutiny and failure to obey the chain of command. The order for Nightwatch to take over Babylon 5 security came from the Political Office. The Political Office, despite its connection to the president, is a civilian agency outside the direct chain of command. Orders affecting military personnel must come from within the military hierarchy starting from the president, through the joint chiefs of staff to your immediate superior officers. A senator cannot give you a direct order. A governor cannot give you a direct order and neither can the Political Office. Make no mistake, this is an illegal order. We've contacted Earth Dome and requested confirmation of this order through proper channels. But, since we seem to be having trouble with communications this may take several days. Until then, you have two choices: You can stay where you are or you can leave, one at a time. On your way out, you'll turn in your link, ldenticard and weapons. You'll be restricted to quarters until the revised orders come in. When that happens anyone who wants to file a complaint against me can do so. Otherwise, have a pleasant stay. Oh, and one other thing. If I were you, I wouldn't use my weapons on the air locks. They're a solid beryllium alloy. The ricochet is a killer._ "

In one move, Sheridan had disabled the authority of Nightwatch on his station.

"And one more thing… all the vents have been redirected to one location. If you attempt to get out that way, you'll run into Captain Pinkerton. Trust me, you don't want to run into that guy." Screams were heard inside the cargo bay. "PA off." He looked at Franklin. "Doc, I'll need you to stay around for a while in case anybody ignores my warning and tries to burn his way through."

"You got it."

"Pinkerton aside, you do realize this is a temporary solution," Ivanova remarked. "When Clark finds out about this, he'll reissue the order. We'll be right back where we started."

"Not if they straighten things out at home or Hague pulls off a coup," Sheridan replied. "We need to buy time for that to happen."

"One thing I'm not clear on," Franklin asked. "Keeping everybody in there is gonna cut our security patrols in half. Doesn't that worry anybody?"

"Not really," Garibaldi replied. "We've got some help for a change."

On cue, a swarm of Narns entered the corridor, led by G'Kar, who made the Narn gesture of greeting as he stopped.

"You're kidding," Franklin said, before looking around. "You're NOT kidding."

"Always plant a lie inside a truth," Sheridan informed. "It makes it easier to swallow."

"Oh, boy, Londo is gonna love this."

"Hell, yeah," Ron said as he entered the corridor with his sanity-destroying smile on his face. "Captain, I'd like to head back to my ship, marshal the fleet and prepare for the coming battle with Clarke's forces. He's not going to be happy."

"Understood," Sheridan replied. "We'll keep you informed as best we can."

Ron smiled. "Computer, activate trap exe."

Ron disappeared from the hall in a shower of light, followed by a massive amount of screaming. "GET HIM AWAY! GET HIM AWAY!"

"So he just beamed into that room and is just… terrifying them for shits and giggles?"

Ivanova looked at Garibaldi, giving him a look. "I think he would call it scaring them straight."

"And I think Captain Yamato said it best," said the Security Officer from the _Firestorm_ , who had arrived with Ron.

"What did he say?" Ivanova asked.

"That Captain Pinkerton is a master of the art of Trolling."

The captain reappeared in another shower of light. "I think I got the point across."

"Remind me never to piss you off," Sheridan remarked.

"Sheri-boy, you're Starfleet officers in all but name. You sure as hell act like it."

Mr. Crazy walked off, and Sonja whistled. "High praise."

"Really?" Sheridan asked.

"If a Starfleet officer says you act like one in all but name, it's a good sign."

Sheridan blinked at that. "Huh."

All the Starfleet personnel left the hall, heading back to their shuttle. "I get the feeling we're going to be running into shit these people deal with soon."

"Yeah, Michael. We're more than a bit doomed."

* * *

 **USS** _ **Firestorm**_ **\- 'home' system**

* * *

Takeshi sat at the Helm Console as usual, though there wasn't much to do as the engineers worked over the ship, fixing the damage taken in the trip to Sol System.

Most of the damage was cosmetic now, but the cloaking device was still a problem. The shield transfer was still delayed, but they were working on it. Shields were finally working, though.

"Sir, message from the Ra-Cailum over subspace," Rina reported.

"Put him through," Takeshi ordered.

Instead of ron, Sonja appeared on the screen. " _Hoi-oh, Capt'n,_ " she said. " _Boss man's got a job for you and the Mini-Romulan. find the EAS_ Alexander _and get her safely to B5._ "

Takeshi nodded. "Right," he said. "Start building a power base against Clarke. Any ideas where to start looking?"

" _Should be en route to Orion 7,_ " Sonja replied. " _Location's in your helm right about now, so you'd better get running._ "

"We'll get right on it," Takeshi informed. " _Firestorm_ out."

Once the link was cut, a single question was asked. "Why not send the Klingons?" Kim asked "Why us?"

"Because the Klinks might not care which one's the _Alexander_ and just fire at everything?" Rina remarked.

"Likely," Takeshi replied. "Well, we have a job to do—let's get to it."

The _Firestorm_ pulled out of Dock after the engineers not from its crew had left, then gained some distance from the base before activating a Jump Gate.

Both ships jumped in, heading for Orion 7.

* * *

 **EAS** _ **Alexander**_

* * *

The _Omega_ -Class ship was taking a beating from a heavy cruiser: the EAS _Clarkstown_. Hague was dead, killed in the firefight, and now Major Ryan was in command. An x-ray/plasma beam hit the rotational section, destroying one of their fighters in the process. "30% damage to rear decks. One more and we'll lose rotation and go Z- gravity. We can't outrun them in normal space. Major, we have to jump."

"Leave our fighters stranded?" the Major asked. "We can't jump without them."

"If we reel them in, we'll lose our screen. _Clarkstown_ will burn us stem to stern."

"Damn it, haven't we lost enough?"

"If you won't jump, let me open fire with the aft batteries."

"I don't want to kill any more of our ships!"

"We have no choice. Forward interceptors on the _Clarkstown_ are down. We can punch through the hull. Major, please, let me take the gloves off the firing team."

Before the Major could give the order, however, another Jump Point opened, and two small ships emerged, one spitting out bright orange bolts of energy, the other light bluish-green bolts. Both ships were aiming at the _Clarkstown_.

They burned the ship from the stern forward, crippling it, but not destroying her. The ship was left adrift, but salvagable.

"The _Firestorm_ or the _Ra-Cailum_?" the Major asked.

"Has to be one of them," his new XO replied. "No way it can be anyone else."

The boxy ship with stubby wings flew past, revealing itself as the _Firestorm_.

"Open a channel to the _Firestorm_."

"I've got them, sir."

On one of the monitors, Takeshi's face appeared. "This is Major Ryan, commanding EAS _Alexander_. Thanks for the help."

" _A pleasure, Major,_ " Takeshi replied. " _Though we've been ordered to escort you safely to Babylon 5._ " There was a brief pause. " _Where's General Hague?_ "

Ryan flinched. "He's dead. He was killed during our firefight with the _Clarkstown_."

" _Son of a bitch…_ " Takeshi replied. " _As I said, we've got orders to escort you to Babylon 5. Once you're ready, we'll lead you there._ "

"We'll recover our fighters, then we'll jump back into hyperspace." The image faded. "Bill, they just spared the captain of the _Clarkstown_. I met him last year because of the General. He's got a wife, three children..." He snorted. "An abyssinian cat named Max. At least I don't have to explain to his wife how I killed him in self-defense."

Bill nodded. "Yeah, that's a good thing there," he said.

* * *

 **Babylon 5 - war room**

* * *

Sheridan literally rushed into the room, heading for his seat. "Bad news, people," Sheridan informed. "We are five hours away from a crisis situation. I just received a transmission from the _Alexander_."

"That's Gen. Hague's ship."

"They've suffered heavy damage, and they need a place to make repairs. And they're coming here."

Ivanova summed it up in three words. "Well, we're screwed. Every ship is hunting them down on charges of treason. As soon as they come, somebody will send word back home. Once that happens—"

Sheridan cut her off. "I know. So I need you to put a cutoff switch in the com system. The second they get here, shut everything down. Just leave us a private channel, in case we need it, and the ISN feed. It's our only lifeline to home. We need to know what's happening." Information in a time of war was always necessary, and none of them were deluding themselves into thinking otherwise: they were at war. "We all knew we'd end up in the middle of this sooner or later. How far this goes, we'll just have to see. All I know right now is that Hague is arriving here in a few hours and hell is riding in with him."

"Hopefully we can get some good news out of this," Ivanova remarked.

* * *

Babylon 5 was never going to stop being a hotbed of activity for some time, and five hours later, when the _Alexander_ came out of hyperspace, escorted by the _Firestorm_ and her Romulan counterpart, it was the talk of the station. Rumors of rebellion were like wildfire. And when Takeshi met with Sheridan and Ryan, the shit hit the fan.

"Captain Sheridan," Takeshi greeted.

"Captain Yamato. Major Ryan.

Where's General Hague?"

Ryan winced. "General Hague was killed in our last firefight. We were coming back from a meeting with some officials on Orion 7 when we were ambushed. He was on his way to the command deck when we were hit by the _Clarkstown_. In his absence, I've tried to carry on as best I can. Between this and what's been going on back home, the crew is just stunned."

"Things are going to hell in a handbasket, just because Clarke is going down the same path Hitler did with his Gestapo," Takeshi said with a frown. "He hasn't learned the lessons Hitler's path taught us all."

"Xenophobic fools, the lot of them," Sheridan groused. "What's the latest on the coup?"

"A few senators have managed to escape Earth Dome," Ryan informed. "Shock troops are out in force everywhere: Paris, London, New York, Moscow, New Delhi."

"How are the folks back home dealing with all this?"

Ryan shrugged at Ivanova's question. "That's the irony. Most of them have welcomed martial law. It's cut crime down to nothing. On the surface, it's peaceful."

"Yeah, the peace of the gun," Garibaldi remarked. "Why haven't we heard of this on ISN?"

"ISN is walking a fine line," Ryan informed. "They know if they push too far, they'll be shut down. We have one chance: Mars has rejected martial law. If they stand up to Clark, they might rally support from other colony worlds and push him out."

"Hopefully," Takeshi replied, "but we need to prepare for the worst. Ron's already started those preparations, though I can't say more at this time, but I'll contact him, see if he can shunt one of the Klingon ships here to back us up."

Ryan's link beeped. "Yes?"

" _We've intercepted a coded message from Earthforce Command. They've started bombing Mars. I repeat, they're bombing Mars._ "

"Oh, HELL." If Clarke was bombing Mars Colony, he was making damn sure that the others got the message: rebel, and this is what will happen.

"Jeez, he's more than just following Hitler's footsteps," Takeshi groaned. "He's giving Hitler a run for his money."

"We can't just let this go on."

"We don't intend to." Eyes turned to a newcomer: Saren. "Captain Sheridan, Colonel Saren, commander of the RRW _D'Deridex_."

"When did you get here?"

"I've always been here," Saren said, before he pressed a button on his wrist. "Disengage."

* * *

Outside, Delta Squadron was about to get the shock of their lives.

"What the-?!" one of Delta Squad's pilots asked as a portion of the stars seemed to ripple, revealing the double-hulled Romulan Warbird.

* * *

" _C &C to Captain Sheridan: something just—WHAT THE FUCK?!_"

Saren smirked. "My ship, as well as all but the _Ra-Cailum_ , are all equipped with cloaking technology. You cannot kill what you cannot see, after all."

"Cloaking Technology," Sheridan breathed. "You have actual stealth technology?"

"Hides from visual and most other forms of scans," Takeshi informed. "Can be found if you look hard enough—or if you get a lucky shot, like what happened to me at Ganymede with that Shadow Vessel."

Saren shook his head. "Or you're phased outside of space-time, like with the cloaking device we experimented with. And the one YOU experimented with."

"Colonel, that doesn't matter. What matters is you just gave Clarke more of an excuse to be paranoid; more excuses that his way is right! What's stopping you from bombing Earth or any other planet to smithereens?"

Takeshi sighed. "For us, Starfleet doesn't do that as a matter of principle," he said. "We're primarily explorers, but we can fight when push comes to shove. The Klingons… while I know some Klingons might see Planetary Bombardment as an option, we got lucky that the two Captains with us are the Honorable Warrior type. The most they would do is send in cloaked troop transports, but only if Ron gave that order."

"The man can't be that terrifying," Ryan remarked. "Those Klingons look like they could snap him in half."

"He commands the most powerful ship in the fleet, can scare people just by looking at them and he has a number of Borg implants in his body that make him… stronger then most people," Takeshi informed. "I assure you, he is that terrifying. Some of the Klingons call him 'Windstorm', after an ancient tale in their mythology." He then turned to Saren. "As for the Romulans, while I imagine Ron is at least part of the reason why they wouldn't consider orbital bombardment, I feel that the Colonel would be better suited to explaining any other reasons."

"The Republic doesn't consider it an option unless there is no civilian population. But Starfleet DOES have an order to destroy the surface of a planet. General Order 25, I believe. Regardless, we're here to help with the defense. I'll return to the _D'Deridex_ , and recloak. The Starfleeters call the decloaking a 'surprise, motherfucker!' moment before we open fire. I think I like it."

Saren left the room, and Takeshi sighed. "It's General Order 24, actually," he told the B5 staff and Major Ryan. "But we only call for that when there's something so dangerous on the surface of said planet that we can't deal with it any other way."

"You've certainly got the weapons for it. Those beams can cut an Omega in half."

"Those are the primary weapons, and not that powerful in the grand scheme of things," Takeshi remarked. "Our torpedoes are more lethal: they've got a yield akin to… 50000 times that of the biggest nuclear devices you've got."

Ivanova blinked. "That's… pretty powerful," she said, understating the matter by several orders of magnitude.

"Either way, we can't just rely on your ships for help. that bastard's going to send everything he's got our way. I'll talk to Delenn: see if she can't get the _White Star_ or some other Minbari ship to come."

* * *

' **Home' System**

* * *

" _We've been unable to determine at this time how many have been killed in the recent attacks on Mars by Earthgov forces,_ " Said the ISN newscaster on the vid screen, being watched by the occupants of the starbase lounge.

"Foolish of the Terran President," said one of the Klingons in the lounge. "Even during your most savage conflicts, you never bombed civilians if you had a choice in the matter. It is without honor." The humans winced at the reminder, as some of their leaders actively killed civilians as a matter of course. But to the Klingons, the more honorable ones seized victory.

" _President Clark has announced that the attacks will continue until the Mars Provisional Government accedes to martial law. There's been no reaction from any of the outer colonies concerning—_ "

" _I'm sorry!_ " Another newscaster entered the screen. " _Jane, I'm sorry to jump in like this, but we have to—The colonies at Orion 7 and Proxima 3 have just broken away from the Earth Alliance in protest over the bombing of Mars. They're setting themselves up as independent states until such time as the president is impeached._ "

"Rick, don't do this—"

" _Clark doesn't want this released, but we have to go with this now because I don't know how long we can stay on. Armed troops have begun moving in on the ISN broadcast center here in Geneva. We just saw them coming around the corner. We're trying to get a camera down there to document what's going on._ " The building began shaking on the screen. " _I can hear gunfire now up here on the 14th floor. Listen to me. There's information you don't have. What's been going on for the last year, we haven't been allowed to tell you._ " Debris began falling from the cieling in the broadcasting station. " _Everyone, get down!_ " Static replaced the image before 'Please Standby' replaced it.

And THAT was the final straw for the Klingons. "THEIR 'PRESIDENT' IS AN HONORLESS _PETAQ'_!" one of them roared. "MAY HE BURN IN THE FIRES OF GRE'THOR FOR A THOUSAND YEARS!"

The rest were more furious, getting out of their seats. "Where the hell are you going?!"

"To contact our ships! We are returning to them, and urging our captains to strike at this dishonorable _qoh_ now!"

"We're not going anywhere until the big man gives the order!"

"Are you a coward, Starfleeter?" one of the Klingons asked, and the one who had spoken up didn't reply verbally—instead decking the Klingon.

That started a brawl that would have ended in bloodshed had a voice not interrupted them. "AC-FUCKING-TUNG, ASSHOLES!" The fight stopped as eyes turned to a woman wearing an EarthForce uniform with blonde hair and brown eyes. Colonel Pinkerton was just as intimidating as her 'brother'. "We just got a message from the _Ra-Cailum_. Get your asses to your ships, and get moving to Babylon 5! You want a fight? You're getting it! Clarke's sending a fleet to take the station! ARE WE GOING TO LET THEM HAVE IT?!"

"NO, MA'AM!" Everyone yelled in unison.

"WHAT ARE WE GIVING THEM?!"

"DEATH!"

"Nice to see the Klingons have the right idea. GET YOUR ASSES MOVING! WE LEAVE NOW!"

There was a mass exodus from the lounge—about as crazy and door-clogging as a panicked evacuation, but without the panic, and more important than an evacuation.

The six ships from another universe were going to war in this one.

* * *

 **Babylon 5**

* * *

The Ra-Cailum was the only visible ship of the group that was going to be defending the station. The more obvious destroyers Churchill and Alexander were there, and the ships that could cloak were cloaked, ready to surprise. The Achilles was waiting in hyperspace. Sheridan's voice was heard over the tachyon comm net. " _May I have your attention, please? In the last few hours, we have learned that warships are coming this way from Earth. Their orders are to seize command of Babylon 5 by force. As commanding officer and military governor of Babylon 5 I cannot allow this to happen._ " B5 began launching fighters at this point. " _President Clark has violated the Earth Alliance Constitution by dissolving the Senate, declaring martial law and personally ordering the bombing of civilian targets on the Mars Colony. He is personally responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent people. Following these attacks, Orion 7 and Proxima 3 have broken away from the Earth Alliance and declared independence. Babylon 5 now joins with them. As of this moment, Babylon 5 is seceding from the Earth Alliance._ "

"Launch all shuttles and runabouts," Ron ordered.

"Aye, sir," came the reply.

" _We will remain an independent state until President Clark is removed from office,_ " Sheridan continued. " _At the end of this current crisis, anyone who wishes to leave for Earth is free to do so. Meanwhile for your own safety, I urge everyone to stay in your quarters until this is over. That is all._ "

"Inform our fighters on the _D'Deridex_ to launch just as she decloaks. Surprise might end this before it begins."

"Aye, Commodore."

"And stop calling me that!" Beeping was heard from the science post.

"Jumpgate is activating!"

Ron smirked. He'd been wanting a good fight for a LONG time. "Here they come."

The vortex formed, spitting out five ships at first. " _This is Captain Dexter Smith of the Earth Alliance Destroyer_ Agrippa _to Babylon 5 and renegade ships. You are ordered to surrender your commands and prepare to be boarded. This is your only warning. If you do not surrender, we will be forced to initiate deadly force. Federation starship_ Ra-Cailum _, surrender your vessel to Earth Alliance authority immediately._ "

"Oh, yeah, you and what fucking army?" Ron asked. That was when he realized that the point wasn't closed. More ships spat out: more _Omegas_ , dozens of _Nova_ -class dreadnoughts and a large number of _Hyperion_ -Class cruisers.

" _This is Captain John Sheridan, Babylon 5,_ " Sheridan announced. " _You are executing an illegal order in violation of the Earth Alliance Constitution. These orders have forced us to declare independence in order to ensure the safety of this station. We don't want a fight. But if you attempt to carry out these orders, we will defend ourselves. Come on, captain. You must see these orders are wrong. Leave while you still can._ "

" _Captain Sheridan, we have more ships, and we have our orders. Even the_ Ra-Cailum _will have to surrender._ "

"I outgun all y'all asses," Ron replied. "But I'm not alone. All ships, decloak! Stand to battle stations!" The cloaked ships reappeared, the fighters attached to the inner hulls of the _D'Deridex_ detaching and joining their fellows from the destroyers and B5. "Surprise, motherfuckers!"

Captain Smith closed the channel at that point, and began moving his ships in.

" _Babylon Control to all ships,_ " Sheridan ordered. " _Stand by to attack, but do not, repeat, do not initiate combat. Let them fire first. We won't start this fight, but, by God, we'll finish it._ "

"Lock phasers. Standby photon torpedoes."

"They've pissed you off if you're ordering photon loading."

"My patience is at its' end. They die. Period."

The enemy ships continued closing.

" _Eight hundred kilometers,_ " announced a rangefinding system. " _700._ "

" _Forces closing,_ " announced one of the B5 operators. " _Entering firing range._ "

" _Close blast doors and activate defense grid,_ " Sheridan ordered. " _Stand by._ " More quietly, but still able to be heard, he said, " _Don't be a fool, Smith. You've got to see these are illegal orders. Don't make us do this._ "

" _Enemy fighters have locked on,_ " the operator announced.

"And here come the fireworks."

"They're firing!"

The enemy fleet opened fire on Babylon 5, the renegade destroyers, and the Allies, the latter of which began firing back. "All ships, clear to engage. If they turn away and break off, let them go. If not… well, do as you will."

" _Understood,_ " Takeshi replied as the _Firestorm_ shot off, the _Sienov s'Okhala_ following close behind.

As one of the _Omegas_ fired at the _Firestorm_ , the _Mercury_ -Class ship rolled around the attack, before firing a Photon Torpedo into said _Omega_ 's forward hangar. The _Teutonic's_ head section exploded as Takeshi banked away, firing with his Phaser Cannons at a _Nova_ -Class. While he wasn't pleased ending so many lives, they had long since given up fighting for the freedom of the people they were now beginning to oppress under Clarke's illegal orders. Besides, the ship could easily be towed back to Earth space and rebuilt. The _Roanoke_ attempted to dance with the _Ra-Cailum_ , but unlike Takeshi, Ron was not pulling punches. "Photon torpedoes, full spread."

The spread of warheads impacted various points on the _Roanoke_ , turning the destroyer into so much space debris.

"Target destroyed."

"Target the _Zeus_ and disable it. Make them back out of B5 space."

The _D'Deridex_ disabled five _Hyperion_ cruisers, leaving them adrift. "This is far too easy. No shields, no nothing. It's like shooting… what are those Terran animals called again? Webbed feet, long bill, goes 'quack'?"

"Cats?"

"Yes, it's like shooting cats. No real sport at all."

The Klingons continued to slaughter the enemy, hacking the cruisers and dreadnoughts to pieces, and they were joined by a ship dropping out of hyperspace: the _Achilles_.

"Like dynamiting fish in a fishbowl," Takeshi muttered as he took down another _Hyperion_. "Can't they see this battle is pointless and withdraw already?"

"Zealots never surrender, Captain," Ron informed. The _Churchill_ took heavy damage, and was beginning to go critical. " _D'Deridex_ , move in and begin transporting the crew off!"

The Double-D did just that, and began beaming personnel off of the doomed ship.

"Enemy fleet has taken heavy damage. They're pulling back. Looks like they landed troops on B5 during the battle."

"Tell the Klingons to transport troops onto B5 to contain them," Ron ordered. "Or slaughter. Up to the Klinks."

"Understood," replied the Comm Officer. Soon, the Klingon ships approached B5 and began beaming their Warriors over.

* * *

Hundreds of Gropos were fighting the BabSec forces, and kicking their asses as well as the Narns.

However, soon swirling columns of red light appeared in their midst, and before they knew it they were fighting a more dangerous foe.

A foe that absolutely _**relished**_ close-quarters combat…

"Today is a good day to die!" The Gropos froze as the Klingons rushed at them, bat'leths and disruptors blazing. Several Marines were frozen in fear as some of them were decapitated by the Klingon horde.

The ensuing battle could hardly be called a battle—If anything, it could be called a massacre, as the Klingons brutally dealt with the Gropos, assisting BabSec and the Narns when they came upon clusters of them.

"We surrender! Just… stop!" The Klingons stopped the slaughter as the Marines dropped their weapons, putting their hands over their heads.

BabSec and Narns went in and restrained them, a few Klingons assisting—though the Klingons were none too gentle about it.

The Klingons were fine. The BabSec and Narn forces...not so much.

* * *

"Damage report."

Corwin looked at his monitor. "Damage to all sectors. They're still fighting in Brown Sector."

"Get some more troops down there. Hull integrity?"

"Not good. EVA teams en route. It's a good thing it stopped when it did. We couldn't take much more."

Of course, as if that were a cue, the Jumpgate opened again, and _**more**_ ships came out of it.

" _Oh, jeez,_ " Takeshi muttered over the comms. " _They've got_ **MORE?!** "

" _This is Capt. Drake to Babylon 5,_ " came the voice of the lead captain. " _You are ordered to surrender and prepare to be boarded by order of President Clark._ " While the _Nimrod_ and _Olympic_ were no match for the fleet, there was only so many people they could prevent from getting onto B5.

"Captain… jump points forming right on top of us," Corwin informed.

Shierdan closed his eyes as he prepared to get the order to surrender. "How many?"

"Four!"

The jump points opened, spitting out four ships… but not Alliance. They were Minbari: three Sharlin-Class war cruisers and the White Star.

" _This is Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari,_ " Delenn said over the comms. " _Babylon 5 is under our protection. Withdraw or be destroyed._ "

" _Negative,_ " Captain Drake replied. " _We have authority here. Do not force us to engage your ship._ "

" _Why not?_ " Delenn asked. " _Only one human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. He is behind me. You are in front of me. If you value your lives, be somewhere_ **else** _._ "

" _So, either run home with your tail tucked between your legs, or face all of us at once in a battle you can't_ **possibly** _survive,_ Captain _,_ " Takeshi added. " _Your choice._ "

Faced with six heavily armed and advanced warships, plus two _Omegas_ , B5 AND a Minbari fleet… the EA forces ran, opening jump points and fleeing like rats from a ship.

" _Nice timing there, Delenn,_ " Takeshi remarked after the Earthforce ships had all left

" _It came at great cost. We will speak of this on the station._ " The link cut out.

" _I hope the Klinks enjoyed themselves,_ " Ron remarked.

" _The battle was glorious on the station, Captain, but out here… it was like fighting a pack of aged targs!_ " Zak'Jul announced.

" _True,_ " Takeshi replied. " _The tech difference is so great it isn't funny… but they darn near made up for it with sheer numbers._ "

" _Let's debrief on B5. Sheridan could use the moral support._ "

* * *

 **Babylon 5**

* * *

"How many fighters did you lose?" Ryan asked.

Sheridan shook his head. "Too many: At least 30 percent of our Starfuries are destroyed or disabled. It's not likely we'll be getting any more from Earth for a long time. Why?"

"When the _Churchill_ was destroyed, we took on as many of her pilots as we could. The launch bays are damaged. We can't hold many more. Give them a home here and bring your fighter squadrons up to full strength."

Hiroshi nodded sadly. "My people can bolster B5's human crew. God knows you can use it."

"Thank you, both of you," Sheridan replied. "I get the feeling that, if it weren't for Ron and his allies… things might have gone much worse."

"My crew would be dead," Hiroshi agreed. "I would be dead. And the security force would be devastated."

"The _Achilles_ will be staying here, from what I've been told, as well as at least one of Ron's ships," Sheridan informed. "It'll boost our defenses."

"That's good," Ryan said. "Though hopefully Colonel Pinkerton can tone down her usual crazy."

"Apparently, she can control it. She just chooses not to. I think Delenn would say she's the universe's way of venting its' madness."

"Fuckin' A it is!" All three froze as the two Pinkertons entered the office with Takeshi and the other captains. All three were thinking of a certain theme as they saw the pair leading the way.

"So, how's the cleanup going, Sheridan?" Takeshi asked.

For a moment, he said nothing, barely able to comprehend TWO of them in the same room at once. He shook his head, letting the moment pass. "We're… we're working on it."

"I'll send engineering and security teams from the _Ra-Cailum_ over to patch the place up and get 'er ready for the next fire fight," Ron informed. "The Tool Box'll stay here for the first shift."

"I'll keep the _Firestorm_ on patrol," Takeshi added. "We'll be ready if the Earth Alliance or anyone else tries anything."

Sheridan nodded. "Thank you, Captain."

"My warriors would like to join your security forces to keep the peace," Zak'Jul informed. "Violence is something we welcome!"

"Just make sure they control themselves in everyday stuff, Zak'Jul," Takeshi remarked. "We want the crime rate to drop because people aren't committing crimes, not because those committing crimes are dropping like flies."

"We cannot give promises we cannot keep," Guinlong said as he smiled in that… Klingon way. Sheridan didn't like it.

"Well, whatever happens, we'll be ready," Takeshi remarked. "Though I'd imagine Clarke is pretty dang furious at how much we've managed to screw him over."

* * *

 **EarthDome, Geneva, Earth - Capital of the Earth Alliance**

* * *

"GODDAMN IT!" Clarke was throwing a fit. Of the 84 ships that went to Babylon 5, 17 were badly damaged to the point of needing to be scrapped, 3 of them were outright destroyed, and the rest would be out of action for months! The simple idea that Sheridan had the help of the Federation Alliance, traitors in his own forces, AND the Minbari was annoying. He was working toward preserving humanity's purity, and those… people… were going to destroy it!

"Bill?" asked a female voice to his left.

He let out an annoyed sigh. "Miss Kanzaki. Is there something I can do to help you?"

A woman with dark brown hair flowing down to her waist and amethyst eyes smiled at him. "Come on, Bill, it's just the two of us here. You know you can call me by name when we're alone."

"Psi Corps tries to keep an eye on me. And I'm just… almost disillusioned of the idea that we can save Earth from those Federation people. We've been too friendly for too long, and look where it's gotten us. The only way we're going to survive is to isolate ourselves from them."

She sighed. "Oh, Bill…" she said. "I know this path must be hard. But don't give up. You'll achieve the future you're wanting for Humanity soon enough."

"I need to go. Majorie will be expecting me home soon. And I can't stay in the office all day. You know that."

"Alright, Bill," the woman replied, before she closed the distance, embracing him. "Shall we meet again later tonight, in the usual place?"

"Yes," he replied. "Sure. My wife is beginning to suspect things. I can't sic Nightwatch on her: not without casting a light on me. I can't let that—"

"Bill," the woman interrupted. "Leave it to me. I'll take care of everything." She smiled again, before she kissed him. "Trust me. She won't be a problem for much longer."

Clarke left the office, swearing he could hear some form of… whistling as he left the office. He wasn't going insane (anymore than he already was, at least) as the sounds were happening. His mistress was getting orders from HER masters.

Once Clarke was out of earshot, the woman, Hitomi Kanzaki, looked at where she knew her… associates were. "Babylon 5's remaining independent was foreseen," she remarked. "Even without these newcomers, its Captain is very close to the Minbari Ambassador, and she would do anything to help him."

More trills and whistles were heard. "I know. I'll go to Babylon 5… and try to recruit those ships to our cause. After all…" She smiled. "Chaos is the engine powering life. The spread of chaos is our triumph. And the greatest joy is the ecstasy of victory."

* * *

 **USS** _ **Firestorm**_

* * *

The _Firestorm_ cruised on its patrol near B5 territory. It had been a few days since the attack, and things were starting to return to normal, though civilian ships from EarthForce territory got extra-tight screening, to ensure no quiet saboteurs were being slipped in.

There WAS an incident involving Nightwatch personnel that escaped the trap, but they were… dealt with. The leader of the group was given a special present from Ron: Borg technology that stimulated the pain center of the brain, and induced fear. THAT made the rest surrender without a fight. While it was amoral and they all knew it, zealots like them needed to be put down somehow.

"We might need to see about doing more for B5," Takeshi remarked. "Ron might not go for it, being it goes against the Prime Directive, but if we gave B5 some shields or some of our weapons, it might give them an edge for the next time anyone tries anything."

" _We won't go for it,_ " came a reply over the comms from the _Ra-Cailum_. " _But if we disassemble the Regula station, we can move it here: up B5's firepower and protective abilities._ "

" _That's going to cause problems for US,_ " someone else said. " _Our people need a place off our ships to rest, and B5 doesn't have the same facilities._ "

"Then if we do that, we'd need to make the move as quick as possible, so we don't lose access to the facilities for too long," Takeshi replied. "Heck, we could see if trying what DS9 did to get from Bajor to the Wormhole would be feasible. Though we'd likely need another station in the 'Home' System, as well, to defend our Dilithium Mining Operation in case someone stumbles on the place."

The _Ra-Cailum_ passed by the _Firestorm_ , dropping what appeared to be a satellite. It had two rotating turrets and four phaser emitters, and what appeared to be a shield emitter.

"Ah," Takeshi replied. "Yeah, a Defense Satellite would work."

The ship was dropping a LOT of them, orbiting Babylon 5 in a slow sphere.

"Uh… how many of them are there?" Takeshi asked.

" _He's dropped 47 of them already… and he's got a LOT more in the shuttlebay. He's making a defense grid around B5: those things have 60 photon torpedoes, 2 heavy phaser pulse cannons and two emitters and they're all interconnected to make a deflector shield around B5._ "

"That'll certainly help," Takeshi remarked. "Still, my Spatial Awareness is acting up like it did before we met Riza. I think we might have another major encounter soon."

The jumpgate activated, and out of it came the starliner _Asimov_ , the first transport from Earth since independence. "If it weren't for us being here, I'd say it was business as usual."

* * *

 **Home system**

* * *

Things were pretty much business as usual at the 'Home' System for the fleet, with the _Vol'Tare_ and Double-D currently in-system.

"That was an interesting day. 80 ships against, what, the 9 we had? Outnumbered eight to one—"

One of the science consoles began sending out a warning on the bridge of the D'Deridex. "Sir, picking up a disturbance. It's a jump point."

Out of the Jump Point came a ship. It looked like an _Omega_ -Class Destroyer, but…

There were… spines growing on the hull, which was organic in nature. They had seen this before… on Shadow attack vessels.

"Oh, great," the Science Officer remarked. "Don't tell me they reverse-engineered Shadow Tech that quickly?!"

" _This is the Earth Alliance destroyer_ Enigma _. Surrender your vessels and prepare to be boarded. You will answer for your crimes against the Earth Alliance. Cooperate, and we will show mercy._ "

" _This is Captain Zak'Jul of the IKS_ Vol'Tare," Zak'Jul said over the comms. " _We have destroyed many foes who tried to conquer us in the past, and we have destroyed ships which bear the same tech yours does, and you believe you can force us to surrender to your_ koh _of a President? Come back in a hundred of your years,_ Petaq' _._ "

The _Enigma_ opened fire, blue energy beams impacting the Vol'Tare's shields. They did MUCH more damage than the x-ray/plasma beams, and were closer to disruptor cannons then anything else. 2310s era disruptors, no less.

" _OK, that hurt more than your usual weapons do,_ " Zak'Jul informed. " _Our turn._ " A massive volley of Disruptor bolts and four Quantum Torpedoes shot out from the _Vol'Tare_ —Clearly, Zak'Jul was going for the Overkill option.

The advanced organic hull absorbed the disruptor bolts, but not without causing internal damage to the metallic hull, while the torpedoes hit the rotational section and weapons compartments, damaging them, but not destroying the destroyer. " _We'll be back, you sons of bitches!_ " The _Engima_ 's Captain yelled out as the ship entered hyperspace, escaping the wrath of the Klingons.

" _And we'll be ready for you!_ " Zak'Jul yelled back. Next time, he was going to go even more overkill.

If one of those things could stand up to Quantum Torpedoes, he'd see how well it stood up to _**Hargh'Pengs**_ …

* * *

 **Babylon 5**

* * *

"The new defense grid is online and tracking anything that looks remotely hostile at B5."

Shierdan chuckled at the new satellites orbiting his station. They were designed to be cheap, but they worked. "Any news on our new… king?"

Ivanova chuckled. A passenger boarded B5 claiming to be King Arthur Pendragon of all people, chainmail, sword and all. "Not much, besides Marcus enjoying himself. And someone wants to talk to captains Pinkerton and Yamato."

"Huh, that's interesting," Sheridan remarked. "Hopefully it's not Clarke trying something underhanded."

"I'll inform them."

While the Zocalo was by no means private, they couldn't meet privately without raising a few eyebrows, so Hitomi just sat at a table.

Takeshi was the first to walk up, and noticed two things. First, the woman looked almost exactly like he did, except for her longer hair and generous… assets.

And second, his Spatial Awareness was screaming at him—Something it had only done when he was near Hitomi Maxwell from the Mirror Universe. Meaning this woman was similar to her in some way.

He took a seat next to her as Ron joined them. "Hello there," he greeted.

"Captains Pinkerton and Yamato?" she asked.

"Look, lady, we have better things to do, so what the fuck do you want?"

"So blunt," she remarked. "Very well. I am Hitomi Kanzaki, and I represent some… special interests."

"Interests? What, IPX, EarthForce? My ass?"

Hitomi was beginning to dislike Pinkerton immediately. Rude, crude, blunt, just to use a few words. "More special than that," she informed. "My… associates are primarily focused on advancing progress—not just for Earth, but for the entire galaxy."

"Uh-huh," Takeshi said, looking at her pointedly. "Let me guess. You want to secure either our services or samples of our technology, which you can distribute to the masses to advance their progress. Am I reading you right on this?"

"More or less," she replied.

And at that point, Takeshi simply glanced at Ron. The man knew the regulations like the back of his hand, unlike Take. "General Order 1: non-interference in the development of a species, be it sociological, biological or technological. Regulation 487-A, Sub-section Gamma: transfer of any technology without authorization from the Federation Council and Starfleet Command is a court martial offense. And my favorite, Article 14, Section 31: Starfleet personnel are allowed to ignore regulations in extreme risk emergencies. So you can do three things. Kiss my ass, and suck it. Long. And. Hard. Looks like you do it already to begin with, so that shouldn't be difficult."

Hitomi frowned. "I see," she said. "There is nothing I can do to change your minds?"

"Unless you offer to make me a sandwich, not much." That insult was the last straw as she pulled out a compact PPG. "I wouldn't. You'd burn through your PPG cap before downing either of our personal shields, and I've got reactive shielding that you can't penetrate, even with infinite energy. You work with that fucker Morden, and his… Shadows."

Hitomi scowled. Clearly, Pinkerton hid his observant abilities by acting like he was insane, and by being very rude. "I see this meeting was a waste of time," she said. "I'll take my leave, but know this: there is only one driving force that truly advances people regardless of their origin. And my associates harness that force, channel it, and drive the people of the galaxy to greater heights. By opposing them, you oppose growth in the galaxy. Good day." She stood, and left.

Takeshi frowned, looking at Ron. "Looks like the Shadows are more than what the Minbari thought they were," he said. "This might even be bigger than the Iconian War back home."

"No. just older. We have better things to deal with. The Shadows might be old, but they stand no chance against the Iconians: they barely stand a chance against US. I have to go deal with information issues: if we're ever going to get home, we need every source of scientific information they've got."

"Right," Takeshi replied, before holding a hand up—which held a single strand of hair which he'd discreetly cut from Hitomi's long locks while she'd aimed that PPG at Ron. "And I should get this to your ship. I think we just ran into the local version of… well… me, but I want to confirm it."

Ron tilted his head to one side quickly before Takeshi disappeared in a column of light, reappearing in the ship's sickbay. "Didn't know we were getting a new patent. You sick?"

"No, got a sample for you," Takeshi replied, handing the doctor the hair strand he'd retrieved. "Need a DNA analysis done on this strand of hair."

Rutia just took it out of his hands, placing it in a diagnostic scanner. "Weren't expecting a site-to-site, were you?"

"No. All he did was tilt his head."

"Boss still has a transceiver in his spine. It's hooked into the comm system, so he can take control of the ship if he wants from anywhere so long as he's in range."

Takeshi nodded. "Useful," he said. "Anyway, I got that hair from a woman who requested a meeting with Ron and myself—she looked exactly like… well, me."

"Captain, we deal with this shit every month. Alternate universes and shit like that: why the hell are you so apprehensive? We should be used to it by now."

"Because the only other Female Counterpart I've met of myself in alternate universes is now the Empress of the Terran Dominion. In the Mirror Universe. And this lady set off my Spatial Awareness the same way she did."

Rutia either didn't care or took it in stride. That was alarming. Then again, when Takeshi asked for some of the Ra-Cailum's records, he got nothing but Omega-level requests for authorization. The Ra-Cailum did more than just build things. "Analysis complete: 97.3% match."

Takeshi sighed. "Well, that's confirmed," he remarked. "Though judging by the conversation Ron and I had with her, she might actually be worse than Empress Maxwell… thanks for doing this, doc."

"My job. Besides patching up the boys at B5 last month, I've had nothing to do."

" _Bridge to Captain Yamato: your presence is requested on Babylon 5. We just got a message from the_ D'Deridex."

"I'll be right there," Takeshi replied as he made his way to the Transporter Room.

* * *

 **Babylon 5 - War Council chamber**

* * *

"The _D'Deridex_ sent this via the subspace relay in hyperspace." Images of the _Enigma_ appeared on screen, firing its' beam weapons at the _Vol'Tare_.

"When the fuck did EarthForce get the time to build that thing? They've only had one encounter with—" Ron noticed the looks on their faces. "Talk. Now."

Garibaldi spoke up. "About 6 years ago, I was on Mars, doing freelance piloting ops. I saw one of those things in the ground. They must've taken samples."

Sheridan was disgusted. That ship was built on the same frame as the Agamemnon. "They've been doing this for years."

"And apparently it can even tank Quantum Torpedoes," Takeshi said, reading the report from the Double-D. "We might need to up our arsenal."

"I thought Quantum Torpedoes were the strongest torpedoes you had," Sheridan queried.

"Just the most powerful standard weapon," Takeshi replied. "We've got others, but they're more… exotic. The Klingons developed Hargh'Peng Torpedoes, which were designed to take out an ancient Planet Killer in our universe, and we've also got Tricobalts, Bio-Molecular Weapons, Thoron-Infused… we've got a lot of very exotic, very powerful weapons."

"He also didn't set the torpedoes to their normal yields. Those torpedoes were set to a yield of 4 isotons. Titanium can't tank an antimatter detonation, so why bother? I'll send the order to set all weapons to max-launch yields. We'll send the bastards all the way back to Z'ha'dum, and we'll be chasing them. By the time we're done, they'll have to rename the planet."

"True… though I wonder what they'd end up renaming it," Takeshi wondered.

"Easy. Z'ha'BOOM!" Riza and Ivanova shared an amused expression, with the latter actually saying BOOM.

Takeshi just laughed at that. "Yeah, that'd likely work. Either that or they'd have to remove it from the star charts completely."

Delenn was displeased by their lack of taking it seriously. "Any race with Shadow technology is a horrible idea, Captains. It is insidious."

"I'd know. I've got Borg implants throughout my body."

At the confused expressions, Takeshi explained, "The Borg are a cybernetic race from our galaxy, and one of the bigger threats before the Iconians. They use regular cybernetics and nanomachines. They only have one goal—assimilate other races, and add that race's biological and technological distinctiveness to their collective. We've been able to liberate assimilated individuals, like Ron, but that hasn't slowed the Borg down at all."

"They don't sound like much of a threat."

Ron sighed before looking at Takeshi. "Points must be proven, don't they." He walked toward a computer terminal before sticking his tubules into it, smirking as he did so.

"What the hell are you—"

Monitors and lights started flickering as Takeshi said, "This is something that the Borg can do, as well—inject their special nanoprobes into a ship or station, causing them to take it over. This is also the danger with salvaged Borg tech—it might still have active nanoprobes."

Garibaldi was unwilling to take a threat to the station, firing on Ron. His shielding just flared and absorbed the energy. "Resistance is futile, bitch."

"Alright, I think that's enough of a point, Ron," Takeshi said. He then turned to the B5 people. "So yeah, we know about 'insidious' technology."

Ron released control of Babylon 5 from his person. Garibaldi fired another bolt into him just for good measure. "Really?"

"How the hell are you PPG-proof? This thing burns through almost anything."

"Another of the dangers of the Borg," Takeshi replied. "They Adapt. First couple of times you fire an energy weapon at a Drone, it works just fine. You can even kill a drone or two. But they operate on a Hive Mind. They analyze the incoming weapons fire. And they Adapt, rendering each successive shot less and less effective."

"But he's one guy."

"I also have a personal shield unit. It tanks the shots before I adapt to them. Always works."

Takeshi grinned. "Personal Shields are pretty much a common mainstay where we're from now," he said. "But yeah, if there's one thing the Borg can't adapt to, it's physical strikes. So, if the Borg somehow arrive in this universe, the best bet are firearms. Swords would work, too, but that gets you close enough they can inject Nanoprobes and assimilate you."

Sheridan didn't want to think of it. "Is there a way to resist inside the hive mind?"

"Unimatrix Zero was one way, but that was destroyed. Resistance is futile."

"Hopefully we won't have to deal with them here. Clarke and the Shadows are threat enough for you guys."

"Resistance is futile."

All eyes turned to Ron, who had a blank glassy look in his eyes. "Oh, shit."

That look was replaced with his normal evil smile. "Got ya!"

"NEVER do that again!" Takeshi yelled. Everyone else nodded in agreement. "Anyway, on the topic of Shadows, I think there's something more going on with them than what we first believed."

"What do you mean?" Sheridan asked.

"The person who wanted to meet with Ron and myself? Seems to be working with the Shadows like Morden," Takeshi explained. "She said, and I quote, 'there is only one driving force that truly advances people regardless of their origin. And my associates harness that force, channel it, and drive the people of the galaxy to greater heights.' Not sure quite what that means, but something tells me they aren't conquerors like the Iconians."

"A mystery. We need more information."

"I know. But we don't have time to get it. We'll get as many supplies on board B5 as we can in preparation for a strike. Get ready. This is going to be FUN."

"Agreed," Takeshi replied. "We'll deal with Clarke and the Shadows as we get opportunities to do so, and defend ourselves in the meantime."

At that point, they got a call from C&C. "Captain, we just got the ISN feed back."

"Oh, fucking wonderful. Put it through, Lieutenant."

The ISN opening came through. " _ISN, the galaxy's most important network._ "

A woman, not the usual one, was on the screen. " _Good morning. The Interstellar Network News is back on the air broadcasting throughout Earth and to over two dozen colonies and deep range outposts. The first thing we want to do is explain what happened to cause the disruption in service. The signal from the ISN News Center here in Geneva was lost when our facilities were attacked by saboteurs intent on paralyzing all Earth communications systems as a prelude to invasion._ "

"Oh, that's wonderful: ISN's a propaganda machine now," Sheridan remarked.

"I'd imagine those people who worked the network before were either imprisoned or executed," Takeshi mused. "It would be Clarke's style."

" _In order to divide our forces, the saboteurs used our facilities to stellarcast a fake report designed to create the impression that the government itself was taking action against us. To stop this campaign of misinformation we ourselves pulled the plug on the broadcast._ "

"Bullshit!"

" _In the ensuing firefight, government forces recaptured the ISN facilities and apprehended the saboteurs. We've been working round the clock to repair the damage. And now, at last, we're back, better than ever._ "

Ron pulled out his phaser and shot the screen, cutting the audio feed as well. "Send me the bill."

Takeshi sighed. "Wonderful," he said. "Now we won't be getting any meaningful information out of Earth unless we send a team in to get it. And doing that is incredibly risky."

Sheridan shook his head and left, not saying a word. "He's pissed."

"Got every right to be pissed. We were hoping that that was the sign we needed that Clarke was gone, and now this?"

Takeshi sighed again. "Best we can do now is send some people clandestinely to Earth, disguised as civilians, perhaps with subspace comms so they can send info to us without risk of detection. Might need one of our cloak-capable ships to drop cloaked subspace booster relays along the path between here and Earth."

"We're not risking it. We don't have the people, for one. I'm going to organize the engineering crews: I want B5 fully repaired and ready for the next shitfest." Ron walked out of Sheridan's office, pissed off at the totalitarian bullshit he was seeing from Earth.

Takeshi was ticked, as well, as he left the office. And somehow, he knew that this 'Hitomi Kanzaki', his local counterpart, was involved in the situation on Earth.

He had no idea just how right he was, though, or the role she would play in the future…

* * *

 **RRW** _ **D'Deridex**_

* * *

Events passed quickly as there was a new and unwelcome arrival at Babylon 5: a stealth Starfury piloted by Alfred Bester, a PsiCop. The crews of all six ships were surprised at one thing: his resemblance to Pavel Chekov.

"Maybe he's this universe's equivalent to Chekov or something?" one of the Double-D's crew was musing. "Better question, though, is: what's he doing here?"

Saren glared at the image. While Chekov was an honorable man with a sense of duty and loyalty to his people that most aspired to, Bester was deplorable: thinking only of how to take advantage of events to put telepaths on top as rulers. "Captain Pinkerton and Yamato should be dealing with him right now."

"Hope he scares easily," another crewman mused. "Pinkerton would have a field day if that was the case."

* * *

 **Babylon 5 - brig**

* * *

Bester was used to controlling himself. But when Ivanova said that she wasn't going to be talking to him, as she didn't trust him as far as she could throw him, she brought in Takeshi Yamato and… that demon.

Said 'demon' was a male version of Colonel Pinkerton, and it was taking every ounce of Bester's willpower to keep from pissing himself from fear.

"So…" Takeshi was saying. "What's one of the most powerful human psionics in this galaxy doing here on B5, hmm? I suggest you start talking, Bester, before I let Ron start asking the questions."

Bester gulped before speaking. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Captain. President Clark isn't calling the shots back home. Others are whispering in his ear. I don't know who they are or where they're from. But I do know they're not human. I've only heard one name for them: Shadows. My guess is you know more about them than I do."

"We do. Question is, what do we tell you?"

Bester attempted to scan Ron's mind. What he got… were nightmarish images. Images of vessels shaped geometrically - cubes, spheres, diamonds, pyramids, and various other geometric shapes, all black with glowing green bits. Inside, cybernetic drones, all linked by what Bester could only identify as some kind of hive mind. A person, being strapped to a table, being injected with nanoprobes and turning into yet another Drone. And an echoing voice, stating a simple message:

" _We are the Borg. Your existence as you know it is over. Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is Futile._ "

Bester screamed. Mentally AND vocally. The small space made it louder somehow, and Takeshi was sure his ears would bleed. Ron slapped him across the face, shutting the terrified PsiCop up. "Will you shut the fuck UP?! Maybe that should teach you to look inside someone's mind without asking."

Takeshi nodded. "Even our own telepaths in our universe ask permission before entering someone's mind," he said. "It's called common courtesy. You should try it sometime."

Bester didn't look into Takeshi's eyes. He would risk looking into the hellish eyes of his companion. "I'll talk to the command staff. Not you. You scare the hell out of me."

"And the command staff doesn't trust you," Takeshi replied, "so you're stuck with us. Though perhaps we might see if our Klingon friends have any Lethean Interrogators who could have a look at you, Bester. And if you're wondering, Letheans are among the most powerful telepaths in our galaxy. And those who've joined the KDF as Interrogators are the only ones who _**don't**_ follow common courtesy—they'd just as soon rip whatever secrets you possessed from your mind, leaving you a ruined shell of a man—as talk to you."

"I won't scan them. Him, I scanned because he's an unknown. I'm not touching his mind again. And as for the Shadows, through Clark, they've infiltrated the Psi Corps. And apparently they have their own plans for my telepaths. Whatever these aliens are, they're interfering with my plans for the future. I won't have it. And so, I need someone who feels the same way I do. Which brings me to you. Would you like to hurt them, Captain? Because I think I know how. If you're up for it."

Takeshi sighed. "Technically, this is not an 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' scenario," he said. "We have a common enemy, yes, but that does not make us friends. We are simply using each other to deal with a shared enemy. As long as we both have full knowledge of that, I don't see any problems."

"We don't."

* * *

"In a few hours, a convoy of ships will be riding the hyperspace beacon through Sector 500," Bester was saying. "At the center of the convoy is a ship containing supplies for our mutual enemy. The ship is being escorted by approximately half a dozen enemy fighters. Seize the ship and we deprive them of some of their weapons capability. But it's important to capture the ship, not destroy it."

"So how did you find out about all of this?"

Bester looked at Sheridan like he was an idiot. "I'm a telepath. Work it out."

"OK," Takeshi said, having joined the briefing as well. "So, now we know _what_ to do. The question now is, _**how**_ do we do it?"

"Locating a ship this small in hyperspace is extremely difficult. The gravitational incline, competing beacons, energy surges. You could search for days and not find it. Unless you just happen to have along a telepath rated P- 12. Someone like myself. A trained P- 12 can pinpoint a ship's location by focusing in on the thought waves of those aboard. For some reason, hyperspace amplifies the signal considerably."

"So how come I've never heard of that little ability before?"

Bester smiled. "We kept it to ourselves. Otherwise, the military might start putting telepaths on the front lines. We're not expendable. Mundanes are."

Garibaldi scowled. "That would be us."

"Got it in one, Mr. Garibaldi. It takes generations to breed a telepath. Mundanes breed like rabbits. Supply and demand. Nothing more, nothing less. Captain, we don't have a lot of time. Without me, you'll never find them. So do we stay or do we go?"

"We go," Takeshi announced. "This opportunity's too good to pass up. But we'll take along some of our own Telepaths, some Betazoids and Letheans, to help as well."

"I won't need their help—"

"But we do," Ron said as he entered Bester's line of sight, dominating it once more, and because Ron was the only thing Bester could see… well, the nightmares he would be getting for the rest of his life would be comforting to Ivanova and Garibaldi. Bester attempted to get away, but Ron pressed forward, driving nightmares from the Borg into his mind.

Takeshi took a few sniffs of the air, then scowled. "Hey, ease up on the guy, Ron!" he yelled. "Scaring him is fine, but getting him to soil himself? Have some consideration for the rest of us, will ya?"

Ivanova and Garibaldi smiled. "Actually, I wouldn't mind," Ivanova remarked.

"I can deal with the soiling for the loss of his dignity," Garibaldi added.

Takeshi could not believe them. They must've hated Bester beyond words to care about that.

Ron looked at Takeshi. "Just making sure he knew when we stood. Because he's coming with ME."

"What?!"

Ron turned his gaze to Bester, who looked like he was about to piss himself again. "That's right. You're coming with me on the _Ra-Cailum_. And we're going to have so much FUN!"

Bester did the only thing he could when faced with that knowledge.

He fainted.

Sheridan gaped. "Captain, you scare the shit out of me, but whatever you did to Bester… save it for the Shadows and Clarke."

"Fuck that. The Psi Corps clearly doesn't suffer enough fear. And to be honest, I'm a nice guy. I'm just very good at scaring people."

Takeshi laughed. "Hopefully you can scare the Shadows and Clarke as easily as you scared this guy," he said. "Anyway, let's mount up. We have a convoy to raid."

* * *

Bester rocked himself in the shuttle en route to the _Ra-Cailum_ , piloted by Sonja while Ron… well. Don't look into the man's eyes was a mantra he was repeating in his mind.

When he'd woken up to learn that he really was going with Ron, he'd soiled himself again. Something which set Ivanova and Garibaldi to laughing.

That was something he was never going to live down. As Sheridan had it recorded. And Ron said he was going to spam it throughout Alliance space. And as Bester had learned, Ron wasn't the joking type when it came to threats.

At this point, given what he'd heard of the Letheans from Takeshi, Bester would have preferred having his mind ripped apart by one of them rather than… this.

And Ron was ENJOYING THIS. "This must be illegal. Abusing a prisoner."

"I'm not abusing you. You looked inside my mind and attempted to get information from me. And I showed you the Borg. And using a man's fear against him to keep his ass in line… isn't illegal."

"Not to mention business as usual for the boss," Sonja remarked. "There's this guy we deal with a lot in our home universe. Name's Franklin Drake. Even _**he's**_ scared of the boss, to the point he doesn't try any of the stunts he pulls with other captains."

Bester tried to look at Sonja and scan her, but Ron grabbed his head, forcing his telepathic beam to go into HIS mind instead. Bester tried to cut the link, but… it didn't work out. Bester would be needing new pants. And a shower.

"Jeez, boss, Takeshi has a point," she said, waving an arm in front of her face to blow away the stench. "Someone soiling themselves does not make a pleasant odor for the rest of us to deal with."

"He was going to try and get inside your head. What would you prefer, Commander: your technical knowledge inside his head, or dealing with the smell of shit for a few minutes?"

"Point taken," she said. "Still, remind me to replicate some scent blockers or scent generators and place them throughout the ship once we land. I don't want the rest of the crew dealing with that if we can help it."

Bester disappeared from the shuttle in a transporter beam. "There. Crew quarters until we need him."

"I hate it when you do that."

* * *

 **USS** _ **Firestorm**_

* * *

Mogire was up on the Bridge this time, Takeshi hoping that her telepathic abilities as a Betazoid would help them track the enemy, especially if filtered through his Spatial Awareness. "OK, we all set?" Takeshi asked.

"Barely. This came from a man who is scared to death of our generally considered commanding officer. Are we sure we can trust it?"

"Bester's got the same foe we do, and we know he's using us and he knows we're using him," Takeshi replied. "Plus, the fact he's scared of Ron makes it less likely that he's lying."

"What's Ron going to do, take away his telepathy?"

" _Worse._ " The image of the man in question appeared on the screen, Bester standing right beside him. " _If he is lying and this is an ambush by EarthForce, I'm going to look into his eyes for the next three WEEKS. I will be the only thing he sees. And he will lose his mind for it._ "

"…That's pretty sadistic of you."

" _I am fed up with the bullshit that this universe is throwing at us. I'm retaliating in the best way I can. Without mercy._ "

"Gotcha," Takeshi replied. "Alright, then, let's get this show on the road."

The _Ra-Cailum_ , _White Star_ , and _Firestorm_ entered the jump gate, entering hyperspace. Ron sent a look to Bester before the link cut out. "Wow. He IS pissed. We've seen angry from him, but this… this is worse."

"Yeah," Takeshi replied. "This is him absolutely fed up with everything the galaxy's throwing at us. I can't blame him. But I know Murphy. If anything, it's likely going to get worse."

The ships began moving, picking up contacts on sensors as soon as they entered Sector 500. It was clear they didn't need Bester or a telepath: their sensors were powerful enough to look through the murk of hyperspace. "One transport with a fighter escort," Kim remarked. "Should be easy enough to capture."

"As long as there's no surprises," Takeshi reminded. "Remember, even in hyperspace those Shadow vessels seem to have some kind of stealth that is superior to our cloaks."

The _White Star_ moved in, firing pulse cannon bolts at the fighters, destroying them quickly while the _Firestorm_ moved in, catching the transport in a tractor beam.

"Contact on sensors!" Kim called out. "It's a Shadow attack vessel!"

"Told you," Takeshi remarked. "Ron, think you can deal with it?"

Before the Ra-Cailum could do anything, it fled, disappearing once more. "Can you track it?"

"Negative. I think the cloak's just as effective in hyperspace."

" _It's not a cloak, you idiot. It's their way of exiting hyperspace._ "

Takeshi's eyes widened. "They can enter and exit hyperspace without needing a Jump Point?!" he wondered. "Well, that's going to make them harder to deal with."

"But why did it run? They never run." Linda scoffed at that. "They can't be learning their lesson."

Ron appeared on the screen again. " _Let's get back to Babylon 5. I think I know why that ship ran off, and it's not because of our ships._ " Ron sent a glance at Bester, who flinched, but that didn't seem to be the reason for it.

"Roger," Takeshi replied. "Returning to base."

* * *

Babylon 5's jump gate activated once more, spitting out the small fleet, which entered docking maneuvers. Once more, Bester was forced to deal with Ron's presence. But he attempted to protect himself via curling up into the fetal position.

Eventually, they were all gathered in the War Room again, and Takeshi asked, "OK, Ron, spill: why did that Shadow vessel run when normally they don't?"

Ron pointed at Bester.

"That explains nothing."

"Ok, since I have to spell it out for you: what was different about EVERY encounter we've had with the Shadows? No telepath was actively probing hyperspace or the area. They ran began of THIS asshole."

Takeshi's eyes narrowed as he realized what that meant. "So… they're weak to psionics or something?" he speculated.

"So I'm your greatest asset."

Ron glared at Bester, who ducked under the table, much to the amusement of the B5 staff.

"You have him whipped. Can you show me how to do it? I'd LOVE to know."

Ron smiled at Garibaldi. "Get assimilated by the Borg, get half your brain scooped out and spend the next 8 years as a mindless automaton."

"So, you scare him with your memories of that time you were assimilated?" Takeshi asked. "I guess that means you're the only one who can keep him in line."

"Oh, not just my assimilation. I got fifty thousand sets of memories in that positronic noodle of mine. I use ALL the bad ones."

"Moving on, gentlemen." Bester poked his head out at Sheridan's proclamation. "We have a weapon to use against the Shadows: telepaths. Problem is, what the hell were they doing with those people in stasis?"

"More central processing units, maybe?" Takeshi asked. "We know Shadow vessels use people as living cores… maybe they were making more ships, and needed more cores?"

"Or refitting. Most organic material doesn't last as long as those Shadow ships: they could need replacement every, I don't know, 40 years, 50?"

"But why telepaths?"

"ECCM, Sheri-boy: teeps can't jam a teep-controlled SAV."

That made sense, in a sick, twisted and nasty way. The telepath-controlled ones could jam any telepath attempting to disable the attack vessels.

"If only we knew what their end-game was…" Takeshi mused. "Then we'd have a better clue of what we need to do to stop them."

"It doesn't really matter what it is. We're involved now, and we're not letting anyone else suffer for this."

"…Can I please leave?" All looked at Bester, who looked close to shitting his pants again. This was a change to the cold, dominating PsiCop they were used to dealing with, and all because the bastard looked into the mind of a man that he REALLY shouldn't've looked into.

"Just leave, Bestie. We'll have more fun later." Bester fled the room, and Ivanova was disappointed that he wasn't screaming like a little bitch.

Takeshi was chuckling a bit about Bester's reaction, but his mind wasn't totally focused on that. He was still worrying a bit about what the Shadows were really after… and how Hitomi Kanzaki factored into their plans…

* * *

 **Takeshi Yamato: …And boy, does he have a right to worry—especially regarding Miss Kanzaki.**

 **Ron the True Fan: And before anyone starts ranting, this version of Ron isn't the nice guy we see in STF and Crossover. He's only got one purpose: war. And war is something he does WELL. Who are you and what do you want will not be questions he'll be answering.**

 **Takeshi Yamato: Takeshi's still the same as in those other stories, only with a new ship. Also, he dealt with the Mirror Universe without any other ships from his side for backup, complete with encountering Hitomi Maxwell, his counterpart on that side, and being an unwitting accomplice to her rise to Empress. This leaves him naturally paranoid about alternates of himself—especially female ones.**

 **Ron the True Fan: Now, to commence Operation: Anderson. TFS viewers, you know what that means!**

 **Anderson: Well, you know what time it is! (RAPE~!)**

 **Takeshi Yamato: Until next time!**

 **Both: Ja ne!**


End file.
